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prettybiching · 4 years

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jon ossoff + celebratory sex after he's sworn in?

Home To You

Pairing: Jon Ossoff x Senator!fem!reader

Read Part One HERE

Warning: 18+ mature scenes, oral (male receiving), unprotected sex, swallowing cum, slight rough sex, angst, mentions of death, insurrection and angry mob. Let Me know if I missed something!

Word Count: 4,325 words

Note: There’s probably so many typos in this because I wrote this on a shitty laptop, sorry about that. Hope you guys enjoy teehee xoxo.

It's strange how quickly life moves. One moment you were in bed, with a man you were head over heels infatuated with, tucked in safely beneath his arms and the next, you were running for your life, ducking behind pillars, holding onto your breathe inside the United States Capitol.

Jon had almost begged to take an earlier flight out to DC to be there with you as you tried to process the horrors of the day you had experienced. You, however, insisted he stayed back and continue with his original schedule.

Yes, you did want him beside you during these difficult times. When you'd wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweat because your mind had replayed the events of the insurrection, the gunshot you'd heard, a narrow miss from the mob, all the moments that would be embedded in you forever. You wanted nothing more than to be in his arms, safe and secure, far away from the horrors of what you had experienced. You craved to tell him just about everything you had come to realise while in your moment of terror.

You knew Jon would not hesitate to fly down to DC for you, but you knew you couldn't be selfish, not when the country's government was already in a fragile state, divided to its core. Jon already had a storm waiting for him when he'd take office, and you weren't about to give the Republicans any more ammunition. You weren't going to allow Jon to suffer as you had done when you came into office.

The two of you remained in close contact throughout Jon's transition period, mostly because the insurrection had invoked a new burning flame for the both of you.

Jon had grown worried sick, knowing that you were inside the building, knowing that the violent mob wanted to kill you and they wouldn't hesitate if they spotted you. Every time the media reported an injury, a gunshot, he held onto his breath, praying it wasn't you. Unlike other lawmakers who were able to stay in contact with their families throughout the lockdown, your phone had died, merely minutes after you texted Jon and your family.

In case I don't make it, I need you to know you've meant the world to me.

You hadn't told him, so as not to encourage his bid to fly out to you but you'd thought about Jon, for so long when a Capitol police officer escorted you and Senator Booker to the safety bunker. When your brain had finally received enough oxygen to think, your mind could only form images of the moments you had spent with Jon.

Never in a million years had you expected to be so infatuated with him when you flew down to Georgia for the runoff elections. You'd told yourself not to bat an eye every time he smiled at you, made a charming comment or made you laugh. However, he had a way of making everyone fall in love with him. You were no exception.

Your heart clenched at the thought of never seeing him ever again. What if you died before telling him just how much he meant to you? You had to, at the least, tell him how proud you were of him and how bright the future ahead of him was.

Life seemed so vulnerable at that moment. You wished you had hugged Jon a little longer, memorised his face a little closer, savoured the taste of his lips a bit more. You shouldn't have taken so long to act on your feelings. If you were to die today, the only memory you'd have would be of the night before.

Jon, he was all you could think about, his name calming your frantic heart just a little. God, you wanted to hear his voice, you wanted to hear him say your name, reassure you that you'd meet him once again that you'd get to love him just a little longer.

As much as you wanted to spill your heart out to him, you knew you couldn't and would never do it over the phone. You needed him to be in front of you, free to feel and touch when you told him just how much you loved him.

When Jon arrived in DC, the night before his swearing-in and the inauguration of Joe Biden, he knew it would be impossible for the two of you to meet as you both had crucial tasks at hand. You two would see one another in the Capitol on the morning of the inauguration.

You felt jittery as you walked down the halls of the Capitol once again. The sound of your heels hitting the tiles echoed throughout the empty floor, your eyes were focused on the plaques hanging on the walls, carefully scanning them to find the name you were searching for. A proud smile tugged onto your lips as you spotted the shiny new golden plaque hanging by the mahogany door.

Your heart began to hammer against your ribcage as you racked your knuckles against the hardwood door. When the door was opened, you were met with Jon's astonished face, his brows at first knitting together in confusion before his eyes grew wide, his mouth hanging wide open.

You are unable to get a word out before he's pulling you into a bone-crushing hug, his hands wrapped tightly around your waist as if scared that you'd fade away from existence. A giggle escapes your lips as sink into his embrace. You couldn't help but nuzzle your face into the crook of his neck, taking in the scent of his aftershave, enjoying the feeling of the short curly strands above his neck and the way he held onto you.

You swore you could've cried then and there.

"Jon?" you called out after a few moments, your voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. He hums, making not attempt of pulling away. "I think we should move."

You don't mean to laugh, but you do as he makes a noise of protest, only to tighten his arms around you, swaying your conjoined bodies sideways. You don't want to let go either, but there are so many other things you wanted to be doing with him as well. Not to forget his limited number of staffers were also inside his office, undoubtedly staring at the two of you in bewilderment.

"Okay..." you lift your head from his neck, tapping your hands on his back to make him move as well. "Jon?" you poked, the movements of your hands getting more frantic. "Jon, Jon, Jon, Jon, Jon, Jonnnnnnn----"

"Okay, okay, I'm pulling away," he finally lets go of your waist, the action instantly filling you with coldness from the removal of his body heat. He feigns annoyance towards you, and you can't help but giggle. You'd missed his silly antics, but more importantly, you'd missed him.

You don't waste another second, grasping onto his freshly pressed baby blue shirt and pulling him down into a tender kiss. He's quick to respond, his hands finding their way to your cheeks, holding you in place as he moved his lips against you with fervour. You could feel the desperation in his movements. What had started as an innocent longing kiss was turning into a heated reminder of the two of you had been missing.

You part your lips for a second, long enough for him to push his tongue into your mouth, eliciting a moan from you.

As if a bell had rung in your head, you instantly pull away, your cheeks feeling as if they were on fire, your eyes blown as you attempted to catch your breath.

"Did-did I do something wrong?" he tilts his head in confusion, swiping his tongue over his bottom lip. He's looking at you with those puppy eyes that you'd come to adore and you swear you're about to faint.

"No!" you're quick to retort, extending both of your hands in front of you, shaking your head frantically. "We just--your staff is right there," you point inside the office where his young staffers pretended as if they weren't there.

"Oh," is all he says, rubbing the back of his neck in realisation, his head hanging low, his cheeks flushing bright red. "Right."

Your lips split into a toothy grin, enjoying his flustered state. You want to continue this, but you know the two of you don't have much time. You would be required on the Capitol Hill balcony for the inauguration, and there you would have to act as if you aren't head over heels in love with Senator-elect of Georgia.

"What? You're not going to introduce me to your team?" you tease, poking his side. When he finally looks up, he's still blushing deep red, and the sight makes your heart flutter just a little more, to see the effect you have on him.

"Right, come on in."

You greeted the young staffers, some only a few years younger than you with a smile on your face, hoping to encourage them in their new venture. These people would help shape policies and pieces of legislation that would go on to shape the future of your nation.

They took notice of the thick atmosphere, having witnessed you and Jon cross the boundary of being just colleagues. They were quick to move out of your way, leaving you both alone in his office.

Wordlessly, you strolled through the room, running a hand along with his desk, taking in your surrounding. His office was structured almost identical to yours and the only thing making it seem different was the interior. "Nice office you got here," you smirked, tilting your head towards Jon who watched you with his hands stuffed inside his pockets.

"Thanks, I got it with the job," he laughed, taking a seat behind the desk. His suit jacket was left hanging on the coat stand by the door, and your eyes caught the navy blue patterned tie he was wearing.

You strut towards him, towering over his figure and instinctively his hands reached forward to thread his fingers onto yours. "I like your tie."

"What can I say? My girlfriend has good taste," he shrugs, pretending as if his words didn't just ignite a fire in you.

"Since when did I become your girlfriend?" you laugh, a stark contrast to the frantic beating of your heart. He squeezed your hands, and you liked how easily his palm fitted against yours.

"W-would you like to be?" you have to bit your bottom lip to keep yourself from smiling, he looked at you with those big puppy eyes, a hint of nervousness underlying beneath.

Untangling your hands, you lowered yourself onto his lap, careful not to crease your pantsuit and overcoat too much. His hands settled on your hips, holding you in place. You lean forward until both of your foreheads are touching, his warm breath fanning over your face, your eyes fluttering shut.'

"It's going to be very complicated," you murmured after a few seconds, your eyes still closed.

"I'm willing to work for it."

You have no doubt about that. You'd walk through hell and back to experience your future with him, just like envisioned it during the insurrection. However, things weren't as straightforward.

"It could sabotage both of our careers," you retorted, lifting your head just slightly to meet his eyes. His eyes were looking at you with such delicacy, you didn't want to talk--talk about the consequences of your actions but just kiss him and keep kissing him until the world around you both disappeared.

"It won't," he answered firmly, squeezing your hips, your hands caressed his jawline, brows knitting together. "We will be okay. We can make it work--"

"We can't be selfish, Jon," you said, no matter how painful it was to say it. "We have a duty to our people, and if we do this we'll have to hide our relationship from the world, we would have to lie---"

"Do you want this?" He cut off your rambling with a simple question that had the gears in your mind turning.

You did, of course, you did. You wanted nothing more than to be with Jon. He was all you could think about when you thought you were going to die, when you heard those gunshots and when you were stuck in that bunker with all those Republicans.

"Yes, yes I do," you answered firmly.

"Then let's just do this, for us. Forget about everyone else for now. It's only you and me. Okay?"

"Okay."

Then he's smiling at you in a way he had never done before, so bright, he could blind the sun itself, and it makes you giggle. You liked seeing him in this way, so unlike the public political demeanour, he carried with himself all the time. This Jon was reserved only for you.

He leans forward, closing the short gap between the two of you, pulling you into a kiss.

That spell is broken when your phone begins to ring in the pocket of your coat, making you pull away from him, both of you breathless and panting.

"Yeah, okay, I'll be out in a second."

"It's time to go," you tell Jon, helping yourself out of his lap before he pushes himself off his chair.

The two of you don't have time to utter another word as Beverly is waiting outside the door with two security agents. You're about to go your way when Jon calls out your name, making you turn towards him.

"I never got to tell you just how gorgeous you look today."

With that, he turns away, leaving you in a puddle.

You enter the balcony first, with Beverly right behind you. Ignoring the cameras panning on you, you scan the area for some of your more favourable colleagues. You meet the eyes of Elizabeth Warren who beckons you towards her and just as you're about to move, you feel a hand slip into yours.

You knew just who it was by the way his hands fit into yours, his touch so familiar.

Your head snaps to the side, staring at Jon in bewilderment. Did he really just out the both of you in front of everyone. He's not even sworn in yet, and he's already gone crazy, you think.

"What the fuck?"

Jon dares to wink at you, walking alongside you with a smugness that you had come to familiarise yourself with over the past few months. "How can I not tell the world that I'm lucky enough to be with you?"

If it were any other time, you would've found yourself flustered at his comment, but now, you could only roll your eyes. He could really be one cocky motherfucker when he wants to be.

He takes note of your tensed shoulders and squeezes your hand, reassuring you. "Just relax. It's only you and me, remember?"

Sucking in a deep breath, you nod in agreement. At least there is one less thing to worry about now.

-----

With your relationship now out in the open, there was no reason for you miss his swearing-in ceremony. You joined your dear friend and colleague, Cory Booker as he escorted Jon into the Senate Chamber with Reverend Raphael Warnock and Alex Padilla beside him.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about Ossoff, Y/L/N," Cory said in disbelief. "I mean yeah, you two looked adorable during his campaign, but damn, I thought we were friends."

You roll your eyes, knowing he was going to bring it up every chance he got from now on. "It kind of just happened."

"Hmm. You're still not forgiven."

You're by the gallery with the two other spouses, a proud beaming smile on your lips---hidden by the mask. You have to stop the joyful tears from spilling, but you're just so goddamn happy as he's called in by Vice President Harris.

He catches your eye as he's walking towards the podium, sending a wink at your way, making you erupt into giggles. He knew you were a blubbering mess underneath and he was going to make the most out of your reaction later on.

You have to stop yourself from jumping on your feet when he's done taking his oath, and Kamala Harris congratulating him.

You run down from the gallery as fast as your heels allow you to move and you leap into Jon, him catching you in his arms with ease. He's laughing against you, his laugh resonating through his chest.

You pull back slightly, bringing your mouth near his ear and in a low, sultry tone you whisper, "Congratulations, Senator."

His grip around your waist tightens, squeezing your side as if warning you to behave. Ignoring him, you pull down your mask to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Just wait till I get you alone."

Oh, but you can't wait.

-------

Despite Jon telling you to be on your best behaviour, he's the first one to break. As soon as the two of you are out of the public eye, his hands are all over you, his mouth trailing sloppy kisses onto your neck, attempting to push down the fabric of your crisp white shirt beneath.

"Have I told you just how sexy you look when you're acting all bossy and shit?" he murmurs between kisses, a slight moan escaping your lips. Your fingers tangle themselves into his hair, ruffling his styled locks back to its original form, just the way you liked them.

"Mhmm," your eyes are fluttered shit, your body supported only by Jon's hold on you. If he were to remove his arms, you'd drop down onto the floor in no time.

"You better get used to it," you manage to word out, overwhelmed by the feeling of his lips all over you. He moves his mouth from your neck, up your throat, feeling your pulse against his lips. You notice as he places on longing kiss over that spot.

"I can't wait."

The two of you were in the lobby of your apartment complex, your humble abode just a few doors away. If anyone was to walk out of one of those doors, the sight greeting them would be anything but appropriate. You knew the right thing to do would be to pull away from Jon and wait until both of you are inside before continuing with your rendezvous.

But he is insatiable, the spell he has you under in unbreakable, and the last thing you want is to be away from his touch, not when you'd thought you could never experience it again.

Your mind is foggy, his mouth still exploring every inch of your skin he's able to find when you're trying to unlock the door to your apartment. "God fucking damn it," you mutter in frustrating, making Jon chuckle against your skin.

As soon as you get the door open, presses you against the door, your head hitting the doorframe with a soft thud. His head falls back to your neck, planting sloppy wet kisses, between small bites. Meanwhile, your hands grip onto his suit jacket, attempting to pull it off of him.

"Take it off," you order as he kisses his way up your neck.

He detaches himself for a second, following your command. You take the time to rid yourself of your overcoat, throwing it across the room.

When the two of you meet once again, he finds your lips, pushing his tongue in your mouth, groaning your name. When he pulls back for air, your lipstick is smudged, staining his mouth and both of your lips swollen. His eyes are darkened with lust, the view giving you an idea.

In a fluid motion, you drop down onto your knees, your eyes landing on his hardened bulge restrained by his pants.

You bit your lips, your mouth water and you look up at him with big doe eyes. "You deserve a congratulatory gift."

His hands find themselves into your hair, gripping onto your locks enough to guide your movements. "I'm all yours, sweetheart."

With that, your hands dart to the zipper, undoing it in one swift motion, pulling his pants down along with his boxers.

Your hands wrap themselves around his shaft, you dip your head down, licking off his precum with kitten licks while looking at him through hooded eyes.

He lets out a groan, throwing his head back the moment your tongue met his tip, sending a shiver down his spine. "God...you know just how to work your mouth don't you?"

He reaches his hands forward to cup your jaw as you wrap your lips around his head, his thumb caressing your cheeks while you sucked swirled your tongue around his shaft.

Your mouth left his cock, your hands still pumping and twisting him, keeping him in a state of euphoria while you turned your head to the side, kissing the palm of his hand.

"Did you miss me, did you think about my hands wrapped around your cock like this?" he moaned at your words, watching you intensely, his lustful eyes worshipping you as you licked up his pointer and index finger before sliding them into your mouth. You sucked on his fingers, tongue licking the pads of his fingertips before swallowing his digits until your lips grazed his knuckles.

Jon watched intently, his fingers going in and out between your lips and glistening with your saliva. He could feel the blood rushing downwards, making his cock twitch as if he wasn't already aroused.

You felt him shift against you, making you smirk. You let go of his fingers with a sloppy pop and dive your mouth back onto his swollen length. You sucked and slurped around his girth with quick bobs of your head, hand stroking and twisting the rest, matching the rhythm.

"Fuck...don't stop," he groans, the grip of his hands on your hair tightening, giving you light pushes down onto his cock.

You moaned, swallowing him deeper with each push, letting his tip kiss the back of your throat repeatedly, going in deeper and deeper until your gag reflex kicked in and pushed him out.

With your hand still rubbing and squeezing him up and down, you take a deep breath when you have the chance, gulping and swallowing the mixture of your drool and his salty precum all the while staring at him with large innocent eyes. He lets out a growl at the sight of your swollen lips.

Lewd sounds filled the room as you squeeze and jerk his wet length tighter with each pump. He bucked his hips towards your face, you could feel his muscles tense up as he was getting closer to his release. His hand held you in place while he fucked you into his mouth with erratic thrusts.

He lets out a groan before hissing at the feel of your mouth, "Open up for me, sweetheart---oh, fuck."

Pulling out a couple seconds before he cums, he pumps himself his tip on your tongue, his body shivering and twitching slightly as he shot his load into your mouth.

His chest heaved as he watched you stand back on your heels while playing with cum on your tongue and lips.

"God, you're just perfect, aren't you?" he lets out a breath, staring at you with adoration.

Swallowing everything in your mouth, you smirk, leaning forward to wrap your arms around his neck, planting a chaste kiss on his Adam's apple.

"Fuck me, Ossoff."

He doesn't need another word before he lifts you from the ground, carrying you to your bedroom and almost throwing you onto the bed.

He kneels in front of you as you unbutton your pants and he pulls them down, leaving you only in your white shirt. He parts your legs open, finding your soaking wet panties. In a swift motion, he rips them of you, making you gasp.

He slides his fingers over your clit a few times, spreading the wetness before he lays above you before holding his growing erection near your entrance. Without a warning, he shoves himself in, feeling your warm and wet walls clenching around him immediately. Your fingernails dig into the fabric of his shirt as he entered you.

"Fuck, sweetheart, you're so tight..."

He doesn't give you much time to adjust, ramming his cock deep into you while holding you down on the mattress at your shoulders. With each quick, rhythmic thrust, a loud moan escapes your mouth.

"You like this, huh? you like the feeling of me deep inside of you?"

"Yesss, oh my god, yes," you whimper, your pelvic muscles tightening, making him groan animalistically.

"Turn around on all fours."

You turned around, crawling on all fours. Jon plunged back into you from behind, grabbing your hips against him, hitting your cervix. You keep on chanting his name in gasps. Meanwhile, his eyes never looked away from where the two of you met. The noise of your moans, the clapping of flesh and wet folds filled the silence.

He pounds into you, his movements sloppy as you feel his cock pulsate. The two of you are moaning loudly, your breaths coming out ragged and the coil tightened in your stomach, ready to snap any time.

'Fuck--Jon. I'm-I'm gonna cum," you cried out in pleasure.

Jon began playing with your clit, rubbing quick circles and that additional action along with his rough thrusts was enough for you to reach your climax. You screamed into the mattress tightening around his cock, while he still pushed in and out of you, only to spill himself inside you a few moments later.

A few hours later when the two of you are tangled between the bedsheets, free of any clothing, you trace patterns onto his cheeks, a warm smile tugged on your lips as he watched you with endearing eyes.

"What's that smile for?"

You shook your head, your grin growing wider. "I'm just happy to be home to you."

#jon ossoff fic #jon ossoff #jon ossoff x reader #jon ossoff smut #smut #jon ossoff fanfiction #jonossoff

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instantzipperbailiffcalzone · 4 years

Text

On the George Wetherby, Jr page:

IT IS LONG, BUT YOU'D BETTER READ ON!

So the SCOTUS said no. They won't hear the case. Cue crazy leftists and their inane celebrations. You're probably pissed off by now because you thought the SCOTUS was going to take this case.

Some of you on here can vouch for this, but I've stated a few times that the SCOTUS may throw this case out and that, if they did, Trump never needed them to begin with. This is an easy one to explain.

When it comes to elections there is no HIGHER or FINAL authority than the state legislatures. No, not even the Supreme Court has the final say in this, believe it or not. In all of this where is Trump? He's quiet. Where is Sidney Powell? Lin Wood? Rudy? Jenna?

An hour has passed and no one said anything on twitter about it. What if I told you Trump knew this case would get thrown out? He had to know this and I'll tell you why. One of Trump's lawyers is Mark Levin's wife. The Levin's are leading authorities on constitutional law.

Why is this important? Because the Texas filing was weak. Their argument was REALLY weak, so weak that both of the Levin's would have told Trump days ago that this case wasn't going to get heard. In fact...Mark Levin DID say it wasn't going to get heard on his radio show...all week long and he was right.

Justice Alito was right in his decision. He argued that the state of Texas wasn't, in so many words, as serious about a resolution as they pretended to be. He said there weren't "interested" in real resolution...and he was right.

He stated that just as in Arizona vs California 589 U.S. where they disputed over the distribution over the water from the colorado river, the actions of what state cannot disenfranchise the actions of another.

They would all dispute over matters until EVERY state had the same laws...therefore simulating a federal regulation where it becomes national. The SCOTUS cannot set that precedence. What would be next? California suing Nevada for having more favorable tax breaks, drawing California businesses to register there instead of California, disenfranchising the other taxpayers and programs in California that need the tax dollars (for example)?

Do you have any idea how bad it would be to make that precedence? When there is no competition there is tyranny.

Moving right along...

The state of Texas produced a weak argument. Trump knew this but he still pushed it. Why? Legal strategy. Here's what I mean...

In the legal process, the accuser has the greatest amount of pressure in the case. The accused is innocent by default so all of the pressure of proving their side rides on the accuser. At the same time, if the Judge throws the accuser's case out with prejudice, the accuser can't bring that complaint up again.

What I'm saying is the GREATEST risk to a case is to become the prosecutor. As a matter of fact, it's easier to DEFEND yourself than it is to PROVE that the person you accused is guilty. Stay with me. It's long but I'm going somewhere...

So whoever brings the case first runs the highest risk of losing before they even have a chance to fight. Why is that important? Because Trump stands a better chance of winning this as a defendant than he does as an accuser.

Now comes the good part...

I've said this a thousand times and I'll say it again. Trump doesn't need the courts to win! He only needs for the state legislatures to do their jobs! And...if he gets a SCOTUS hearing that's just icing on the cake. Now let me tell you what is about to happen.

I thought for a while that one of two things would happen. 1, SCOTUS would hear this first cast. 2, SCOTUS would NOT hear the first case but they may or may not hear the second case. We're having this chat so option 1 didn't happen.

So here's what's going to happen. The state legislatures will be pissed. They will feel as if THEY have been disenfranchised, and either on Monday or January 6th (when Congress count the votes) the state legislatures will CHANGE their certifications to Trump, those 4 states (maybe even AZ and NV too).

This will cause an internal legal battle within the states. By article 2 second 2 of the constitution, the state legislatures have the final say on who they want to certify as the winner of their states. Well this will piss off the Governors who all have illegally certified the states and illegally passed state laws that strip the state legislatures of their article 2 second 2 powers.

The states will say "we have the right, we're not backing down" and the Governor's AG will say "see you in court." Now comes that second scenario I talked about. The SCOTUS is in a pickle. They don't have the authority to tell the state legislatures to ignore the constitution and follow federal law. Federal law is automatically overridden by the constitution. So they can do one of two things.

Take the case and no matter what they ruled, the state legislatures can ignore it since they have constitutional rights. Or the SCOTUS can do what I THINK they're going to do....throw the case out.

Now you can't say the SCOTUS was politicized since they threw out both cases. But in throwing OUT the case, they legitimize the state legislature's decisions. Trump wins.

But what if they take the case? Ok. Remember when I said that it's harder to win as an accuser than it is as a defendant? Well the AG of PA (for example) will have to explain why and how any federal law can override the constitution.

I'm betting 5 of those Justices will disagree with that and they can LITERALLY cite the constitution as precedence and final authority. Trump wins. I believe that the SCOTUS will keep out of this for sake of not showing partiality.

But if they DO get involved, it will be after January 6th where a constitutional crisis will exist and then they would need to step in and settle the matter in 3 possible ways.

1, Ignore the complaints, Trump wins...

2, Take the case, invalidate the elections, give it to the states to vote...Trump wins as we have a state majority of 26 or...

3, Take the case, order a nationwide audit and recertification. With all the fraud.....Trump wins.

In the end, Trump will win. You can roll these dice as many times as you want. The Constitution will win this election for Trump.

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jrcraddock828 · 4 years

Text

Interesting........

Opinion Below By Stephon Rudd:

"So the SCOTUS said "No." They won't hear the case. Cue crazy leftists and their inane celebrations. You're probably pissed off by now because you thought the SCOTUS was going to take this case.

When it comes to elections there is no HIGHER or FINAL authority than the state legislatures. No, not even the Supreme Court has the final say in this, believe it or not.

What if I told you Trump knew this case would get thrown out? He had to know this and I'll tell you why. One of Trump's lawyers is Mark Levin's wife. The Levin's are leading authorities on constitutional law.

Justice Alito was right in his decision. He argued that the state of Texas wasn't, in so many words, as serious about a resolution as they pretended to be. He said they weren't "interested" in real resolution...and he was right.

He stated that just as in Arizona vs California 589 U.S. where they disputed over the distribution over the water from the Colorado River, the actions of one state cannot disenfranchise the actions of another.

In other words Texas can't say they were wronged because they voted for Trump and PA voted for Biden, even if the laws were illegal. One state cannot dictate the actions of another state otherwise we would have precedent for no individuality of states. They would all dispute over matters until EVERY state had the same laws...therefore simulating a federal regulation where it becomes national. The SCOTUS cannot set that precedent. What would be next? California suing Nevada for having more favorable tax breaks, drawing California businesses to register there instead of California, disenfranchising the other taxpayers and programs in California that need the tax dollars (for example)?

Do you have any idea how bad it would be to make that precedent? When there is no competition there is tyranny.

Moving right along...

The State of Texas produced a weak argument. Trump knew this but he still pushed it. Why? Legal strategy. Here's what I mean...

Now comes the good part...

This will cause an internal legal battle within the states. By Article 2 Section 2 of the constitution, the state legislatures have the final say on who they want to certify as the winner of their states. Well this will piss off the Governors who all have illegally certified the states and illegally passed state laws that strip the state legislatures of their Article 2 Section 2 powers.

The states will say "we have the right, we're not backing down" and the Governor's AG will say "see you in court." Now comes that second scenario I talked about. The SCOTUS is in a pickle. They don't have the authority to tell the state legislatures to ignore the Constitution and follow federal law. Federal law is automatically overridden by the Constitution. So they can do one of two things.

Take the case and no matter what they ruled, the state legislatures can ignore it since they have constitutional rights. Or the SCOTUS can do what I THINK they're going to do....throw the case out.

Now you can't say the SCOTUS was politicized since they threw out both cases. But in throwing OUT the case, they legitimize the state legislatures' decisions. Trump wins.

But if they DO get involved, it will be after January 6th where a constitutional crisis will exist and then they would need to step in and settle the matter in 3 possible ways.

1. Ignore the complaints, Trump wins...

2. Take the case, invalidate the elections, give it to the states to vote...Trump wins as we have a state majority of 26 or...

3. Take the case, order a nationwide audit and recertification. With all the fraud.....Trump wins.

In the end, Trump will win. You can roll these dice as many times as you want. The Constitution will win this election for Trump.

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 3 years

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Amy Lee Reveals How New Evanescence Album The Bitter Truth Helped Her Heal After Brother's Death

Amy Lee opens up about Evanescence's first album in 10 years

Evanescence is back with their first album in a decade.

Ahead of the Friday release of The Bitter Truth, frontwoman Amy Lee spoke to PEOPLE about the new album and its influences, reflected on the rock act's legacy and opened up about how she's spent time in quarantine with her family.

"A lot's changed, from perspective, to life experience, to the lineup itself," Lee, 39, tells PEOPLE of her headspace going into creating the LP with current bandmates Troy McLawhorn, Jen Majura, Tim McCord and Will Hunt. "We wanted it to be raw and visceral, and it relates so much to the lyrical content and experiences that I'm drawing from. We're talking about being human, being broken and starting from that place before you claw your way back out."

As on past Evanescence albums, like breakout Fallen and follow-up The Open Door, The Bitter Truth tackles some heavy subjects.

"This whole thing has been very much about facing your fears and facing the things inside myself that aren't easy to admit. On a personal level, the biggest bitter truth is that life is short; we're not going to live forever," she says. "And in these moments, when we do have a moment where there's love and peace and good things — live in it and enjoy it, and embrace it, because it's not going to last forever. That can be a challenge when you're grieving, to not let it suck the joy out of the moment you could be living right now."

The Bitter Truth was party born out of grief. In January 2018, Lee revealed that her younger brother had died after a years-long battle with severe epilepsy; he was 24.

"Our music has always been a very sacred place for me to really just bare my soul. On the grief and everything, it has been really healing for me, having that outlet, to not only be able to pour my pain into, but also to be able to listen back, and reflect back, and see that something good was coming out of something so painful that honors the people we've lost, to still be able to stand back up and be your best self, and remember," Lee says.

"Not to throw it away and let it go and try to tune it out and pretend like it didn't happen — that's not what he would want. He would want me to be the best me I can be. And I know if he can see me right now, he's totally banging his head to this album and so proud of it."

Evanescence also waded into politics on the new album. With the track "Use My Voice" — which was released as a single last August — Lee urged listeners to vote in the election between Donald Trump and now-President Joe Biden. For the anthem, Lee teamed up with her peers Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless) and Lzzy Hale (Halestorm) to make a statement.

"I've always relied on women in my life. I've always had good, strong, grounding, wonderful women in my life that are and are not, rock stars. Being backed by supportive men is important too, and been a big, positive thing in my life as well — but there is something to be said for sisterhood. It's real," Lee says. "My actual sisters and my friends sang on the song, too. It is a beautiful thing that having the thought of, 'Hey, I want to express that we're many, that we're stronger together.'"

There's another young woman who Lee hasn't worked with (yet) but whom she says inspired her in the making of The Bitter Truth: Billie Eilish.

"I think she's just really, really good. [Her music is] dark and real and raw and authentic and bad-ass — and the spookiness, for sure. I hope she keeps making music for a long time. I would love to meet her sometime. She's at such a crazy high point. This is her big moment happening all around right now, so I'm sure she's just flooded with all kinds of people wanting to get a hold of her," Lee says, before adding with a laugh: "I'll wait until she's tired and has more time on her hands. Like, 'Hey girl, what's up? Come over.'"

Lee admits she wasn't always so open to collaboration because she felt she had to prove herself in a male-dominated industry.

"I used to be a lot more guarded about not having somebody [else] sing but collaboration with people. I had to prove myself as a creator, not as a singer. Anybody can imagine a sweet young girl as a singer, but prove to myself as a creator, and a writer, and the driving force and leader of the band. This time I'm so beautifully free from all of that," Lee says.

She didn't necessarily feel that way when debut album Fallen dropped in 2003 and shot her to fame.

"There were just so many older, more experienced dudes all around me who would stand to benefit and profit so much if they could write my next song for me. I had to fight that fight for way longer than that one moment, and way longer than I should have," Lee says. "Working with people, and surrounding yourself with people that believe in you — and really support you and get what you are capable of — is really important."

March 4 marked the 18th anniversary of Fallen, which, with hits like "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal," catapulted Lee and the band to the mainstream charts.

"It was a dream come true in a lot of ways. As far as the music and being received like that, I can't tell you how much it meant to me. I was the kid in school that was definitely not the one getting the lead in the school play, and definitely not the one with all the friends going to the football games. Not to be a jaded or whatever; I wasn't always putting myself out there. But I didn't think I was somebody who was going to be recognized for my talent," she says.

At the 2004 Grammys, though, Lee and Evanescence won two awards: best rock song for "Bring Me to Life" and best new artist.

"It really set me on a path, and enabled me to have a career in music. That we had that time in the mainstream to let something that was different — and not just because I'm a girl — something that was different for a lot of reasons, something that was exposing some of the darker realities of life and growing up..." Lee says. "Taking pain and challenges in life and turning them into something that helps others is one of the greatest things I've been able to do…to have that be accepted by so many people."

Lee says her greatest accomplishment, though, is Jack, her 6-year-old son with husband Josh Hartzler, 43, a therapist. Last March, the rock-star mom was gearing up to go on tour when the coronavirus crisis hit the U.S. Lee immediately embraced her newly cleared schedule.

"The bonus is I got to spend a lot of extra time with Jack," she says. "We made slimes of every type. He's into science experiments and messes — huge messes. So we made some things explode."

Still, Lee is looking forward to playing music live again when it's safe to do so — and so is Jack.

"He thinks it's cool. He'd be on tour with us [pre-pandemic], and he gets that 'those fans like my mom,'" she says. "His favorite thing was going out onstage at the end every night and getting some applause. But at the same time, if I'm like, 'Want to listen to my song?' He's like, 'No!'"

#Amy Lee #Evanescence #2021 interviews

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anexplanationofunfortunateevents · 4 years

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this is an alarmist post

This post might sound alarmist because I don’t know the respectable, non-alarmist way to put this. He’s going full final-days-in-the-Fuhrerbunker. I want to be alarmist. We need to be alarmed.

On one level, I’m pretty sure you know this. You can probably see a vague reference to “what happened in Portland” and know exactly what the writer means. Unidentified little green men in military-style fatigues deployed against peaceful protesters. Protesters kidnapped off the streets in “proactive arrests.” ordered by someone illegally acting as the head of DHS. Journalists attacked. Middle-aged women beaten and tear-gassed. The mayor of Portland tear-gassed. It was, of course, worse than it looked, and only the most telegenic of concurrent power grabs.

But it’s really hard to stay at the appropriate level of alarm for even three hours – and we need to stay there for the next three months. It’s exhausting no matter what, and nearly all of our current information environment makes it even more difficult than it needs to be.

Most of what the mainstream media has to say about the election isn’t reporting so much as it is fanfiction. Characters with familiar names and recognizable faces feature in an alternative universe where “normal” political forces (which were defunct ten years ago) apply. Sniping about “messaging,” pathologically boring lectures about “enthusiasm” – it would be annoying anti-Democratic concern-trolling in a world where a free and fair election could be taken for granted. In the real world of powerful and accelerating anti-democratic threats, it is both dangerous and bizarre, like dumping a fifth of vodka into a Super Soaker and trying to use it to put out a brush fire.

The mainstream conversation is so disorienting that it’s understandable why there are also a fair amount of influential progressive commentators who have burrowed themselves into the reverse narrative. It doesn’t matter what we do, Trump is just going to steal the election anyway; it doesn’t matter if he loses, he’s going to refuse to leave anyway. A subset of these fatalists swing all the way around to conventional Pundit Brain: Trump has already blown up all the rules of democratic politics because Democrats aren’t using the One Weird Trick that would make them good at democratic politics!*

Before jumping down the rabbit hole of whether these narratives are true, it’s important to emphasize that they are not constructive. We are in a crisis. In a crisis, you need to help people understand that something abnormal is happening AND that there is something they can do to make things better. Communicating to people that things are fine, as the mainstream horserace normal politics model does, isn’t helpful, because it helps people rationalize the false but comforting belief that everything is fine. Communicating to people that things are hopeless, as the doom-mongering counternarrative does, is even less helpful. If you’re acting normal about something abnormal, there’s at least the off-chance you’ll get lucky and unwittingly bluff your way through the short- and medium-term. But if you’re constantly getting the message that you’re screwed no matter what, it’s human nature to either a) go into denial and double down on an unproductive response, which is irrational but understandable or b) get cynical and give up, which is an entirely rational response to a situation that actually is hopeless.

Trump is already trying to steal the 2020 election. He has help from the henchmen he has put in charge of important federal agencies and from the white-shoe lifers in the Republican legal establishment. Anything you can imagine he might do, you should assume he has at least considered it. He will consider things that would never even occur to you.

He hasn’t succeeded yet. He can be stopped with overwhelming turnout. We know this because of the 2018 midterms. Autocrats who are successfully smothering a democracy do not allow the opposition party to win partial or full control in regional governments, take over half the federal legislature, and gain a foothold in the presidential line of succession. That’s not how autocracy works. If you come across a commentator who is under the impression that a burgeoning dictatorship just gives away that kind of power for the lulz, consider taking that person’s opinions on the subject with a grain of salt.

Thanks to the 2018 midterms, House Democrats have been able to foil some of Trump’s schemes and warn the public about others. Even with Individual 1’s desperate thrashing at the intelligence agencies, we’re getting a lot more specific information about Russian attacks on the election than we were this time in 2016 from the Obama administration.

One more important thing we learned in 2018: just because Trump would do something, doesn’t mean he will. Here’s the Once and Future Speaker a few weeks after reclaiming her title:

At least Trump “didn’t declare the election illegal,” Pelosi said. “We had a plan for that” — though really, she acknowledged, the only workable plan was “to win big. Had it been four or five seats, he would’ve tried to dismantle it.” In his news conference the day after the midterms, Trump spoke respectfully of Pelosi….

The Spectacularly Failed New York Times buried the lead as usual, but there are a few really important points packed in here. Democrats did, in fact, have a plan for that, which you’re going to need to remind yourself if you try to follow political commentary in the next few months. For whatever reason, a surprising number of supposedly anti-Trump writers are eager to undermine Trump’s opposition with false claims that Democrats are bumbling naifs who in 2020 still haven’t realized that Trump might not respect the results of an election.** This demoralizing premise is, as you can tell from the Wayback Machine link, not true, but for some reason it remains a popular lie, so it’s worth debunking.

More importantly, we didn’t know about the plan until afterward because they didn’t need it. Trump has blinked before, so there’s no reason to assume he won’t blink again. We shouldn’t assume he will do the same thing in 2020 that he did in 2018, because it’s a different situation! Just that people who have assumed Donald Trump will act in a completely different way than he has in the past usually end up with egg on their faces.

My two cents – AND THIS IS JUST MY OPINION SO YOU CAN SKIP IT – is that any kind of post-election autocratic power grab would probably need decisive action from Trump within days, maybe even hours, of polls closing. That, in turn, would require Trump to absorb the narcissistic injury of a loss immediately, which he has been psychologically incapable of doing for the first 74 years of his life. Remember, he didn’t have to come to terms with the curb-stomping he received in the midterms right away. At first he could tell himself that Republicans holding onto the Senate (by the skin of their teeth when they should by all rights have swamped it, but whatever) represented a “split decision” and even a moral victory for him, so he could afford to go into, like, con man autopilot mode and try to charm “Nancy.” Everyone else adjusted to the Democratic victory the next day, and the next night, people got into the streets warning him not to try any bullshit. It was only after bigger districts finished counting and mail-in ballots were counted that it sunk in for him how badly he had lost and what the consequences would be. Then he soothed himself by shutting down the government indefinitely, which he seemed to feel was a display of his power – until “Nancy” pantsed and dog-walked him so he had to slink off and pretend it never happened.

If an election which was more or less as legitimate as the 2016 election (questionable but not Belarus) were held today, I think the most likely result would be a scenario a lot like the midterms: East Coast states make it clear which way the wind is blowing to most people, but Trump goes to bed at 3 AM thinking he’s close enough to fight it out in court. Over the next couple of weeks the mail-in ballots get opened, Miami and Philadelphia finish counting, and the real numbers start penetrating even his toxic bubble. Eventually someone reminds him that his armed Secret Service detail can escort him off the premises no matter what he does, so he loses what little nerve he has and skips Biden’s inauguration to go golfing at Mar a Lago. Or maybe Sochi.

But again, that is not a guarantee or even a prediction. The FACT is that anything can happen in the next three months, and Trump and his goons are putting a lot of effort into ensuring that everyone does happen. I spelled out my opinion of what seems most likely at the moment because it can get really easy to dwell on the worst-case scenario, which leads to fatalism and inaction. The least-bad scenario is actually more plausible than it’s been for the last few years, if we motivate ourselves to get it done. We can’t waste all our time and energy thinking about what he’s going to do, because we need to think about what we’re going to do. Voting is the core issue as always, but it helps to be more concrete.

If your state has early in-person voting, and if you can do so safely, vote in-person as soon as you can. Every state’s vote by mail infrastructure was going to be strained this year before these dirtbags decided to sabotage the postal service. If you can cast your vote early, you can help make the lines a little shorter on Election Day while leaving vote by mail resources for people who need them.

If you are a person who needs vote by mail resources for whatever reason, use them! Request your ballot now. Fill it out and return it as soon as you get it. You might not have to mail it back – your county may have drop boxes, or maybe someone can bring it to the local elections office for you. If that’s a safe option for you, please take advantage of it. If it’s not a safe option, mail your ballot back as soon as possible. You’re not helping anyone from the ICU.

If you and the people you live with are relatively low risk, or if you’ve survived COVID and your health care provider thinks you have immunity for the next few months, consider volunteering as a poll worker. Usually a lot of poll workers are retirees, who are by definition in a high-risk group. If enough of them decide to sit this year out – and that’s the smart, responsible choice – then polling places end up closing, which helps Republican voter suppression by making the lines longer. The more volunteers your area has, the more polls they’ll have open, which makes it that much easier to let people vote quickly and at a safe distance from each other.

This last one isn’t directly about voting, but it’s still pretty important: get used to pushing back on bullshit. There already is another effort to drive down turnout by inundating voters with disinformation. Last time we weren’t ready; this time, we have no excuse.

*Avoiding sources because this stuff is toxic. If you think I’m making this up because you haven’t seen it anywhere, good.

**Look, nobody*** is more sympathetic to The Men and their psychological frailties than me, but seriously, guys, some of you need to log the hell off for a few days.

***For certain non-traditional values of “nobody.”

#democracy #2020 election #authoritarianism

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onisiondrama · 4 years

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(Note: I’m not repeating stories he’s told before and just putting them in parenthesis. I have a lot more videos to go until I’m caught up so that would save me a lot of time. If he gives details I never heard from him before, I will type those.)

“Should I Get A Divorce?” Speaks, Oct 6, 2020

- This video is weird. He’s trying to make himself seem smart and insightful about marriage because his marriage is “successful”, while most people complain about their marriage. - There’s one part where he says people don’t understand you don’t have to be lied to or cheated on in a relationship. Which is pretty ironic coming from him. He shows a clip of an upset wife asking her husband what he’s doing with a woman in a bedroom. The husband and the woman are getting dressed. The husband keeps asking “Who?” “What?”, pretending the woman isn’t there. Later he shows more of the clip where the wife is still questing him. He keeps pretending he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She looks in the bedroom again and the woman is gone. The wife looks confused. Love that gaslighting. Just like when Jamsey boi cheats. “I didn’t cheat. It was the other person who cheated on you, my spouse” “You said I can’t have oral or vaginal sex with your friend. You didn’t say anything about anal.” - In another part he says there are people who constantly complain about their s/o and they hide away in a man cave.. he says this while in his garage man cave. 😑 Which we know he spends most of his time in. Like, way longer than normal working hours. - He says he used to look angry in his old Speaks videos because of his marriage at the time. That’s total crap. He only shows clips from videos where he used his old militant persona for videos like his anti-meat videos. He made plenty of mushy Speaks videos talking about how happy he was with Skye back then too. 🙄 - I think he made this video during his short guru / advise phase.

“gotta say goodbye for a little bit” Speaks, October 8, 2020

- Tells his viewers they can listen to this video without watching it if they like to listen to people talk, like Kai used to do. [This is definitely meant to be another guru / advise type video. I can tell by his tone.] - Says he’s married to Kai for almost 8 years. (How Kai found James story) Says he married a fan and had children with them. He says they now have an awesome dynamic, but he knocks on wood because people who are together 18 years still get divorces. Says you never know, things can suddenly fall apart. - Says it’s cool because at the time he didn’t listen to social standards. Kai was 17 at the time, but lied about his age. Most people would have said don’t go for the relationship because Kai lied and the age gap, even though it was legal. He listened to the law and his heart and now he’s in the happiest marriage of his life. - “F society.” If he listened to society, he wouldn’t know where he’d be or what relationship he’d be in. Says you have to follow the legal system or your life is ruined. - Says he was an air force cop at one point because he believed in justice. He doesn’t think he wanted to shoot people, but he excelled in the cop program. He says he met Magic Johnson in the cafeteria at Lackland Air Force Base. He barely knew who Magic Johnson was, but he thought it was cool a famous basketball player was there. James asked him if he could take a picture and he said yes. He says he took a picture of him like a reporter and not a selfie. He still regrets that. - Says he wants to talk about the future of this channel. Some people appreciate he’s been uploading every day, but he wants to focus on sites that aren’t shadow banning people or algorithmically demoting people. He feels like Youtube is king in letting negative opinions prevail, even if it’s invalid. If the engagement shows people are mad at you, Youtube used to go the harsh truth route. He says that was nice. He says he once made a fake meltdown video in response to a video Leafy made about him. He says it’s fun for him to make fake meltdowns. - He says he and Kai took a quiz today and found out Kai’s IQ is 136 and his is 129, so Kai is smarter than him. - After the meltdown videos, Youtube algorithm didn’t favor him as much. He says maybe it was because he said they were fake. - He says he has been thinking about websites and how they treat users. Says Twitter is one the best because they don’t care about what your opinion is. They just care about their rules. Says if people don’t like you on other sites, they will shadow-ban you and you’re done for. He says his reaction video to Leafy’s video got 1/6th the views Leafy did, so there was a bleed over of traffic. Now when someone says something negative about you, YouTube will only promote videos that agree with that narrative. Says if you only want to hear negative stuff about Joe Biden, you’ll only see negative stuff. He says it’s financially productive, but it’s not ethically productive.

[I just want to pause here and vent a second. Yes, James fell out of the YouTube algorithm, but he’s had plenty of chances to sweep back into it. Like when he was getting tons of views on those fake meltdown videos in January. The reason those viewers didn’t stay is because there is nothing good for them to watch. His Speaks videos are boring, long, rambling messes. He repeats himself, contradicts himself, talks about the same topics over and over. These videos are mind-numbingly boring. His comedy videos are extremely outdated. The characters, topics, and humor he uses are not going to get him anywhere anymore. Like is the Death Note fandom really that strong in 2020? That anime came out 14 years ago for Christ sake. His music is not particularly good or interesting. On top of all this, his reputation is complete garbage.

People just don’t want to watch Onision. If the algorithm tried promoting his Speaks videos, I guarantee most people are actively choosing not to click on his videos. The non-subscribers that do click probably regret it. He’s made ZERO effort into making interesting or engaging content. He’s ONLY been making Speaks content that either fuels his ego or defends himself using the same old arguments he’s used 100+ times before. He’s got to be in some kind of deep denial if he thinks his Youtube views are down because of the algorithm.

There used to be a saying that whenever Onision’s fans grow out of him, there will always be a crop of young teens that start watching him. That’s not happening anymore. It’s not cool for the alt / loner kids to watch edgy Youtube videos anymore.]

- Says people only want to hear things they agree with, people want to take what he says out of context, blah, blah. I’m only 1/4th of the way through this damn video. - He asks why he’s busting his butt when there’s no chance for him to prevail on Youtube or anywhere. He says he’s on TikTok, OnlyFans, Twitch. [This video was from before his partnership was taken away on Twitch.] He says those are slightly less problematic because they are driven by human beings and not drama. - He says when you see him posting less to Youtube in the future, you’ll understand why. He says he wants to wait you guys out, 2 years, 20 years. (He tried to call out Shane story.) He says he had to wait a year or two until people admitted he was right about Shane. He says he has conflicting feeling about Shane because they had a personal friendship. Says Shane told him they were friends. - He says you guys seem to drive your narrative and agendas by emotion rather than science and facts. He can’t reason with them unless he picked a greater evil and wages war on that. You would have to join forces with him because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He says he wouldn’t do that because he’s not interested in being a professional wrestler and making fake drama. - In time you will feel passionately about other things. You don’t actually care about anyone involved because none of you are consuming yourself with anything that is not pop culture. You’re only interested in things other people are pretending to care about. None of you would care if someone found three bodies in a basement. If they were not celebrities you wouldn’t care. You only want justice for things that will get you attention. - If someone builds their whole platform about anti-person they might get bored and become anti-you. That’s why you don’t want to be friends with dramatic people. - He says he was dramatic about things, but that’s because he did care about those things. He wasn’t talking about 3 bodies in the basement either. - Says a long time ago when a celebrity died, he pointed out 30 people were murdered and washed ashore in another country. No one was talking about it because they probably didn’t hear about it. Nobody actually cares about human lives. If you did, every second that a human dies you’d be tweeting about it. - (Sarah blackmail story.) He says in a number of words Sarah said she wouldn’t ruin his life if she slept with him, then went back on it. [Wow. He really morphed his original story. It used to be: One time she jokingly said she could ruin our lives. Later we wanted her to sign an NDA and she said only if she gets something out of it, meaning sex. James said it was “good vibes” that day and he perceived that as her being kinky. She also said it was just a joke in the “proof” clip he always uses. They signed the NDA, then James pressured / tricked Kai into having sex with himself and Sarah. Then Sarah later came back and he decided they should have anal while Kai was out of town because Kai didn’t say no genital to butt. He only said no genital to genital and no genital to mouth before he left.] He says he decided to no longer sleep with Sarah because it was toxic and he decided he would rather be ruined than be with Sarah. [I have a theory he stopped sleeping with Sarah because he was afraid of Kai finding out. If he was truly afraid of Sarah ruining his life, why did he make those videos about weed smokers and BPD that would piss her off? She didn’t speak about their relationship publicly until he started bashing her through those videos.] Says Sarah went ahead and ruined his life and you fell for it. - He keeps mentioning Joe Rogan. - He says others have said he built an empire, uploaded thousands of videos. He gave so much of his life entertaining people and making them laugh. It was so important to him. He changed a lot of lives for the better. Says if you look on Twitter before the drama, you’ll see a lot of people thanking him. Says he was a positive influence to millions of people. That’s a fact. It all came crumbling down because people lied. They’re all criminals he kicked out of his life. He tries to play hero and he was only right with Kai. Kai wasn’t playing victim, he was on his way to college to be a surgeon. Once he was in the process of having kids, he lost the taste to be in a surgery room. Instead he got a bachelor’s in psychology. Kai’s diagnosis of James is aspects of narcissism, but says he doesn’t meet the qualifications to be a full blown narcissist. - He is investing a lot of time in people who don’t listen and don’t appreciate his content. Social media is a drug that tries to take up as much of your time as possible to make advertisers money. He doesn't create content that lies to you or brainwashing you into thinking your opinion is valid. He doesn’t pander to you to make money. Says when he says he’s one of the most honest people on Youtube, the bar is low. OnisionSpeaks is snake poison because snakes don’t survive on this channel. They aren’t going to have a voice that isn’t questioned. Most snakes on Youtube don’t even know how to activate charities on their channels. - Says he had a conversation with Kai about someone who said they vote for the economy over people. Humans are divided between helping their neighbor and helping themselves. - Says he was never taken to court because he never did anything. He’s still posting to places that he thinks is beneficial to himself and his family. Why would he stop because people have a bad idea of him? You shouldn’t alter your life just because people have an opinion of you. If you quit it makes you look guilty. If you quit you’re either guilty or incapable of dealing with it. He says he’s used to dealing with abuse since he began social media. - He wants to create content and help people and make them laugh. He wants to be socially capable and experienced. His ambitions are aligned with what he’s doing. - He says he can’t forgive his father if what people say about him is true. Everyone else he can forgive. If you are at odds with him, he doesn’t have any hate for you. He understands people can hear the wrong narrative and make mistakes. Says we are both imperfect people and have gone through different things. Says if we went through the same experiences, we’d think the same. Says we aren’t so different. - Says he’s going away and he hopes you watch all his videos so you’ll know a little bit about who he is instead of listening to what Youtube manipulates you into watching. Says his advise is to quit social media. He wouldn’t quit because he’s passionate about it.

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kingofthenorth49 · 3 years

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Made in China

I don’t know about you, but it sure feels like we are living through the start of World War III.

Now before you scroll past and think my tin foil hat is on too tight this morning, hear me out. It’s not like this doesn’t make sense or anything, if you connect the dots it would appear that the next global conflict will look much different than the previous two.

Think about it. China has been posturing for years to become the next world superpower, and if you can see through the medias bullshit you can read the overtures that are being made in the Asia region along with the saber rattling in the Middle East, you can see that it didn’t take long for Biden to unravel almost 50 years of progress towards peace.

War is inevitable and necessary to the state, and if you ever read Sun Tzu “Art of War”, a Chinese war treatise from the 6th dynasty you would understand the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. He also said that the outcome of war is pre-decided and gave solid advice on the best way to conduct campaigns to conquer foreign powers.

Now before you get your panties in a bunch, I’m not accusing China of deliberately inducing a world-wide pandemic through the use of a genetically modified pathogen after spending years devaluating the US dollar using printed money (not like we have room to talk, but we also haven’t been on a buying spree like the Chinese have in say, Canada for example.), but if I were President Xi Jinping that’s what I’d do. The best war is one where you risk no resources.

Again, not saying the Chinese are attempting to destabilize the United States, not at all. Just saying if I were going to take over the world that’s how I’d do it, from a far, using disinformation and creating confusion and chaos in the streets of my enemy. Not like it hasn’t been done before.

See many of you see people like me as conspiracy theorists, people who are to be dismissed because we believe in things others’ think are foolish, things that seem farfetched and impossible to be going on in a frame of present reference. I just see myself as a guy who likes history and reads a lot of books that were written before Google came along and dumbed down our nations. Anyone who has ever read a book on the rise of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party in 1920’s Germany would understand completely. If you were to pick up a couple other books on how Hilter rose to power on the back of that party, you’d understand also how quickly people can be manipulated, and how the media and ideology can quickly create a firestorm of hate that makes it easy for societies to crumble. Read even further on how the German army used deceptive tactics to invade Austria and Poland so quickly they didn’t have a chance to prepare.

That’s not a conspiracy theory, that’s history and we all know those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I guess watering down history is a good thing, right? Taking down statues, changing historical accounts in the name of political correctness, and not encouraging people to critically examine all aspects of history to learn from them helps us become a better society.

Let me give you the Cole’s notes version of how quickly things can go off the rails when the wrong ideology gains traction in a society where people intend to do evil. Again, not saying our current situation is remotely commensurate with our current situation, but it’s a good example of how quickly things can go from good to evil.

Here we go.

1933 - The Nazi Party takes power in Germany. Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor (or Prime Minister) of Germany. Nazis temporarily suspend civil liberties.

1934 - Hitler combines the positions of chancellor and president to become “Fuhrer” or leader of Germany. Jewish newspapers are no longer allowed to be sold in the streets of Germany.

1935 - The Nazis intensify the persecution of people that do not agree with their political philosophy. Jews are deprived of their citizenship and other basic rights.

1936 – Nazi's boycott Jewish owned businesses. The Olympic Games are held in Germany; Signs barring Jews are removed until the event is over. Jews no longer have the right to vote.

1938 - German troops annexed Austria. On Kristallnacht, the “night of broken glass,” Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria and 30,000 Jews are arrested. Jews must carry ID cards (papers!) and Jewish passports are marked with a “J”. Jews no longer had businesses, attend plays, concerts etc. (maybe they were unvaccinated??) All Jewish children are move to Jewish schools. Jewish businesses are shut down; They must sell businesses and hand over securities and jewels. Jews must hand over drivers licenses and car registrations. Jews must be in certain places at certain times.

1939- Germany takes over Czechoslovakia and invades Poland. World War Two begins as Britain in France declared war on Germany. Hitler orders that Jews must follow curfews; Jews must turn in radios to the police; Jews must wear yellow stars of David.

Now I’ll stop there.

Those are all non-debatable historical facts, no subjectivity in my interpretation, just the facts m’am. Look how quickly one ideology took hold in a country ripe for change. At the time of the 1930’s German’s were desperate for change as they had just came out of world war 1 and were suffering from paying reparations for their conduct during that conflict and when Hilter came along he lit a fire under the German people by blaming the Jews for the loss of WW1.

Five years. Five years from the time a tyrant took power until he was able to start killing 6 million people.

Now if you are one of those types that believe “it can’t happen again” look no further to all the other genocides over the past 100 years, up to and including the Uighur crisis currently going on in China where they have over 1 million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps and they are mass sterilizing these people to the point it’s actually consider a genocide, as it’s reducing the Muslim population in the western provinces of China though declining birthrates. If these women don’t submit to forced intra-uterine devices or monthly pregnancy tests, they are put in prisons.

Put in prision because they needed to take a test, shot, or device and wouldn’t?

Say it ain’t so Joe, say it ain’t so.

Folks, some people are evil. Rotten to the core. They have no soul and are in the most desperate need of getting laid of any person on the planet. That’s reality. You can choose to stick you head in the sand and pretend the boogeyman doesn’t exist, but in truth the boogey man will always exist because humans are nasty evil creatures capable of the most horrendous conduct, and if you think ignoring them or passing laws to prevent them from doing things are going to stop them, well you are just stupid. Sorry, I can’t soften that up any because I owe it to you to be blunt in these times.

Now if you’ve made it this far I think you would agree that something is amiss these days, there’s too many conspiracy theories of the past few years that are now seeming to be true, yet no one wants to talk about where the end game is. I’m not sure what it is, but I have some theories, most involved China or George Soros, but the data indicates more towards the former versus the latter.

Trudeau loves China, he’s said so on many occasions to the point of gushing over their communist form of government. His father was a Marxist, and his mother loved communists. Literally. **bow chica bow wow**

Hunter Biden and the Big Guy are in bed with the Chinese in a different way that Margret and Fidel. We’ve seen the emails, the testimony, and the allegations. For them, it’s about money. Last week the Big Guy shut down the investigation that Trump started into the Wuhan lab. That’s now created a firestorm that will likely make 9/11 look like a traffic accident. Coincidence? I think not.

We recently had two Chinese scientists with ties to the Chinese People’s Army kicked out of our highest security epidemiology lab here in Canada after CSIS had concerns they were passing information back to the Wuhan lab (a lab so highly classified Canadian scientists have a hard time getting security clearances to access it), and Trudeau drew the ire of senior Canadian military personnel when he bullied them into allowing the Chinese to hold winter war games at CFB Petawawa. Why is Trudeau so moonstruck with China?

Dot, Dot, Dot.

Once again, I hope I’m wrong. I really, really do, but go back and walk that timeline again and ask yourself if you now understand why Netanyahu hit Hamas as hard as he did.

Never again.

Can you blame him Comrades?

Now as you sit here in North America today, especially in Canada, does it not seem eerily similar to what has happened before in history? Keep in mind that Jews were loaded onto boxcars under the premise to take them to safety from the angry German peoples.

I really do hope my tinfoil hat is too tight and it’s cutting off the circulation to my frontal lobe, I want the Canada back I grew up in, and the America I fell in love with. I just hope this really is just a bad bug that’s part of a cyclical pattern of virology and this isn’t the start of a global war to reorganize the planet power structure and de-populate the globe.

The dots just tell a different story.

Jim Out.

#ww3 trudeaumustgo wearesoscrewed enough

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pip-n-flinx · 4 years

Text

Among Us

So this is going to get long, this is going to get personal, this is going to be about prejudice and race and self-serving bad-faith arguments and flawed rhetoric. And for all of these reasons I’m going to leave the rest of this under the cut.

As a few of my friends will know, earlier this week I was delivered an ultimatum from my landlord/roommate. He disguised it well, telling me he was ‘concerned for my mental health’ that my ‘negativity was dragging the whole house down’ and that I was simply too filthy to live with. I won’t pretend I’m a neat freak, and I can honestly say that I have taken some pains to clean more since, to his surprise and delight, though its particularly hard to take coming from him.

“You’re always so down. It’s making you lazy and thin skinned” You know its funny you should say that, now specifically, because I’ve actually been on the up and up this last week and you didn’t mention this at all in January when I was actually at my worst, or February when I was afraid I was going to have to quit my job, or back during the holiday season when retail work was breaking my back... Only now do you think to check in on me?

“You left a pair of gloves, a letter, and a small wooden trinket on the table!” Indeed I have, as you have left your pair of gloves, well over 21 letters, and regularly set your packages on this same table, including today two packages to be returned to amazon. I didn’t realize I didn’t get to use the table the same way you do.

“You don’t do dishes! except that you did this week, which is cool I guess but still!” You do realize that I actually hand-wash every dish I use within 24 hours of using it, right? And that often the dishes you come to me bitching that I never cleaned are in fact your fiances, yes? Ok good, next question.

“You’re always complaining about work. I don’t mind that you vent, but its all you talk about anymore!” I have either lost or walked away from 4 jobs in this last year, and that has not been easy, or fun. I have worked essential retail jobs the entire pandemic thus far. Additionally, in the months leading up to you storming out of your 75k a year salaried sales job, I had told you to leave it because I could see that it was killing you. You got so fed up with the job that for 4-5 months before you left your grandma-paid-off-my-second-mortgage capitalism-knows-best-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-ass spent more time playing valorant and league of legends on the clock than doing actual work. Need I remind you that every time I stepped into your office, or simply stepped upstairs to get ready for work, you would complain about how awful your managers were, or how shitty someone had been to you over the phone? DID I EVER BELITTLE YOU FOR ANY OF THESE THINGS????

The real kicker was that the spark, the moment that started this (at least for him) was me trying to explain why racism and ‘cultural supremecy’ was bad. I had brought to him something I thought we could both agree on, that we could both laugh at. I brought him a series of tweets about how problematic Van Gogh was for studying and imitating traditional japanese painting techniques. He took this, and immediately turned into a piece of the culture wars. Now, I agree, this is an egregious example of trying to ‘cancel’ someone. How cancelling a long dead artist who couldn’t sell his art while he was alive is important is beyond my comprehension, its not as though the market value of these comes up very often, and almost no-one will ever have a chance to buy or reject a Van Gogh. But to him this was emblematic of ‘liberals’ cancelling Seuss and Rowling.

He even went so far as to say that Van Gogh probably ‘did it better’ than the artists he was studying/imitating. Now, this is a huge red-flag to me because this is straight out of the Nazi playbook. This is William Shenker, proposing a theory of music to proof ‘German cultural superiority.’ This, if you will pardon my language, is the real culture war: trying to supplant other cultures art and history with western figures and events.

Now, for those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, this man is sexist. He doesn’t believe women are equal, complains about women’s sports, and rejects a woman’s right to choose. This man is a transphobe, questioning the logic of ‘safe-spaces’ and allowing people to change their pronouns. This man is a Trump supporter, and voted for him twice. And all of these things I found out years after we became friends. I have in the past contemplated what it would take to cut him out of my life wholesale. Despite our wealth of shared experience and our shared interests, we’ve been drifting apart as he drifts further and further to the right. And he has been drifting. He’s parroted more bad-faith arguments from Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson in the last 6 months then he ever did when I first moved in with him.

I have been trying to push back, especially when he says the quiet parts out loud. I try to let him know that it is not acceptable to say he would rather an unarmed black man die that risk that a police officer might be injured. When he compares the people in control of Seuss’ intellectual property and works choose to stop printing less than 6% of his published works to the book burnings in Mao’s china. When he says that its more important to protect teacher from students trolling them by changing their pronouns than it is to protect trans or NB kids. When he espouses his belief that trans and NB kids are ‘just mentally ill.’ Whenever he says any of this shit, I have pushed back. I have tried to halt, or at least slow, his descent towards eugenics and white supremacy and fascism.

It has been to no avail.

And to be honest its exhausting. I wanted to believe that he would trust me, not just to be a moral and thoughtful person, but to be educated and informed on these issues. We went to school together, spent countless hours solving homework and trying to crack games together. If I don’t know the answer to his questions immediately, he often jokes ‘C’mon, you’re supposed to know everything!” and has frequently told me that I’m selling myself short.

But apparently all that trust and all that respect goes out the window when I challenge him. Suddenly I’m ‘overly negative’ or ‘too sensitive’ or he’ll ‘need to look into that, but...’

And the thing is, he is capable of great acts of kindness. He offered to rent me a room in his completely paid-off house, no mortgage at all, simply because he could see living at home was killing my mental health. He offered me 50-75% off of market rate. He buys gifts all the time, has landed tenants job interviews, set people back on their feet, and refused to press charges for several major financial loses he’s taken on the determination that it would do more harm to the defendant than he could ever recoup from it.

But he does not extend this kindness, this generous soul, to everyone. And lately, his circle grows smaller, and his kindess has waned, and it’s been so devastating to see him slip further and further towards his own worst impulses.

I know there will be people who think I should have cut him out of my life years ago, who can’t believe we never talked enough to know that he voted for Trump in 2016. I think back then he was genuinely ashamed, or at least guilty, about that vote. Now? It’s almost a matter of pride for him. I can’t tell you the number of times in the last 4 months that he’s told me that Biden “couldn’t possibly” be as “great” a President as Trump.

And he hides behind this “praise them when they do good, cuff them when they do bad” line and I used to take comfort in it but now... Now it’s clear that it was just a front or excuse for liking these abhorrent people.

I’ve had a couple of hard conversations with some of our mutual friends about what this means for me, and how I interract with the whole group of friends as a whole, in the last 3 days. None of our mutual friends seem to take any of these things as seriously as I do, with my oldest friend even telling me that he ‘can’t imagine’ breaking a friendship off over politics.... I know I know, the caucasity of it all, yes ha ha. And it does make me genuinely worried that I’ll wind up losing the 5-6 close friends that I actually rely on these days over this horrible sonuvabitch. But all this personal venting aside, there’s something bigger here I want to address:

I sat down this evening to watch Last Week Tonight and I was struck by this piece about Tucker Carlson, because while I knew some of what was said on his show, he is remarkably confident for a man who spouts the quiet parts of racism/sexism/homophobia on TV. I have a hard time imaging a more blatantly racist thing to do then declare that a woman who suggested ‘dismantling systems of oppression wherever they are found’ wants to dismantle the American system...

And I have to say, we should go back to punching Nazis. I want these fuckers afraid. I want them to crawl back to the furthest reaches of the internet, relegated to be laughed at for their bigotry by pundits of every political ideology. I want their vile vitriol hidden away where it doesn’t embolden others. I want them to know that they are out of line, out of touch, out of time. I want them to feel ashamed, like the relics of a bygone and worse era that they are, and for them to quietly fade to an ignominious death. I’m tired of seeing them on National News. I’m tired of Pewdiepie’s channel and influence refusing to die despite all the horrible things he’s said and done. I’m tired of Ben Shapiro spouting off about a woman’s place and rights, as if he has any fucking authority on the matter. I just want these people to lose their platforms and their followers. And for me the fact that they haven’t yet is so incredibly discouraging.

I know I didn’t offer any answers here I’m just tired of being alone with this defeated attitude and I guess I needed to get this off my chest as I try to disentangle myself from the losing battle of trying to save a friend from alt-right radicalization.

#tw/ white supremecy #tw/ sexism #tw/ racism #tw/ transphobia #wooow this got longer than I expected #meta: alt right radicalization #and how they're reaching people my age #plus a lot of personal venting

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actuallylorelaigilmore · 5 years

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is it too Controversial™ to ask what you think about the 2020 primary? (answer privately if you like, I just wanna talk)

okay i saved this forever because i couldn’t decide how deep into the analysis i wanted to get, when i barely knew who some candidates were. then when i decided i wanted to ramble about it, it was almost time for the first debate so i figured i should wait til after. NOW I AM READY. :)

so, here’s my opinions on all the candidates i know are running, without doing extra research and with a dash of humorous exaggeration.

DISCLAIMER 1: i care about politics and even enjoy it a little, but i don’t have unlimited time and i also like to do other things, so i’m not perfectly informed on every single candidate, and a lot of what i’ve picked up is from random articles i read or tv appearances, rather than say, campaign websites and official press releases. feel free to tell me why i’m wrong about my impressions if you disagree. i know i can’t know everything and i’m not opposed to being educated.

DISCLAIMER 2: the trolls will come for this post. i accept that. as soon as they start to annoy me, i’ll turn notes off so i don’t have to see it any more. if we’re friends and you want to chat about politics, send me asks or PM me anytime, that way i’m guaranteed to actually get your message. if you send me anon hate about this, it’s getting immediately deleted, so save yourself the trouble.

DISCLAIMER 3: i have my favorites in this process, but once we have a nominee, i’m voting for them. whoever they are. happily. every time i read another interview with voters talking about how if their guy doesn’t win they’re not voting for anybody else i want to scream. every one of these candidates would be better than what we have in the white house right now. a duck wearing a top hat would be better than what we have in the white house right now!!! President Duck In A Top Hat wouldn’t be killing little kids in cages so please for the love of whoever, VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS next year.

behold, the 2020 democratic presidential primary field:

michael bennet

omg, i love him. LOVE him. he is america’s Tired Stepdad and he is FED UP and he just desperately wants us to make better choices. his whole vibe is so done, he acts like a guy who never wanted to be president but felt a sense of duty to be a voice of reason and now by god, he’s going to say what he thinks. do i want him to win? no. but i want him to keep ranting because i enjoy his vibe. idk if he’ll make it through the year, and boy is he a middle aged white dude, but when he’s done running for president he’ll still be that guy who yelled at ted cruz about being a hypocrite once and i respect that.

joe biden

god, joe. i’ve loved him ever since he ran with president obama, because when he debated sarah palin my spouse and i watched it in a hotel room during a rare break from living in our car and i liked the way he talked about his history, and the way he argued. my feelings for joe biden have always been wrapped up in that terrifying, stressful time of my life, when just watching someone be a democrat and proud of it was kind of comforting.

but i was so fervently wishing he WOULD NOT RUN this year. and unfortunately he hasn’t given me any reason to feel differently yet. would he be a good president? yeah, probably. i don’t think we’d all end up dead. but he’s not good at countering valid criticisms, and his entire case right now for why we should pick him is because if we do, we can all go back to the halcyon days of ten years ago and pretend none of this ever happened. that’s not good enough! it all DID happen, and we need to face the reasons why it did so we can try to improve things, and i just genuinely don’t think making the exact same argument as trump but choosing a different era to turn back the clock to is going to beat him.

i’m not a moderate voter, so what do i know? there’s a reason he’s the frontrunner. but i’d feel better about him being the frontrunner if he was actually dealing with the fact that he has a long record, not all his past positions make him look good to voters now, and with so many candidates up against him this time, a lot of us need to know that he’ll fight for our lives the way that others would because they have backgrounds more like ours.

cory booker

i like him, but i don’t think he’s the strongest candidate. his philosophy of love is noble, just not where a lot of the party and the country is at right now. and i’ve heard he’s a great speaker if you’re in the room, but i think other candidates connect more successfully with voters so far. i really do like him!! i hope he’s around long enough to stand out a bit more!! because so far i think he makes a better senator than a presidential candidate–but i’m willing to be persuaded otherwise.

steve bullock

is he a governor? a senator? is he one of the ones that didn’t quite make it into the first debate and complained about it? i feel like he’s that guy. also one of the ‘i have republican supporters and am therefore the party’s best hope for the future’ guys. idk, i’ve heard of him but have only the vaguest picture in my head. it’s not an impressive picture.

pete buttigieg

MAYOR PETE.

look. LOOK. i’ve said it before and i will say it for the rest of his political career, there is nothing that fills my heart with joy the way pete buttigieg does whenever he talks about his HUSBAND or being in the closet or being gay in the military. he is a middle america white guy and i still absolutely fucking love him because in my whole life so far i have never been able to watch an openly gay candidate run for president and be listened to.

do i wish he was something other than a slightly moderate white guy? i really do. i’m desperate for every kind of representation. but if we’re ever going to get our first openly gay president, i accept that it probably HAS to be somebody who’s otherwise as palatable to majority america as possible. and as a millennial there’s also something great about watching him go. if he’s the future, we could do worse.

he’s very clearly smart, and a good politician, i get the sense that he genuinely thinks (probably overthinks) about details and complicated issues, and unlike some frontrunners he’s capable of saying ‘yeah i fucked up and i’m sorry and there’s no excuse, i want to do better’ and we need SO MUCH MORE of that in politics, even if it’s politically motivated. he’s capable of at least seeming like he cares about people and will change his mind when he learns new things.

i honestly don’t know if he has a chance in hell in the general, and i think it’s probably too soon for him to actually win the nomination. but he’s young!! and he’s doing so well already!! it feels like joe biden’s been running for president longer than i’ve been alive, so i’m hoping pete bows out gracefully if that time comes, and then tries again in a future primary.

julián castro

i know he’s an underdog candidate, and lots of people don’t know who he is or get him confused with his congressman brother. but i have loved him since 2012, and of everyone in the field, he’s literally the only one i fervently hoped might run someday. i’ve been waiting nine years for this to happen!!

i’m biased. just soooo biased. my best friend, my favorite person in the world, who i married, is a latina twin, the eldest just like he is. so watching his keynote address in 2012 stole my heart and he has yet to give it back. he’s got snark, he’s got no patience for white privilege or politics that neglects policy, and literally every time he speaks i’m grateful he’s in public service.

he would make a good president. i don’t doubt it. i thought he did really well in this first debate, and i appreciate the way he’s both in it to make a difference with the other candidates no matter who wins (see: trying to get them all to agree to decriminalize border crossing) but also not running as a guy who knows he can’t win. he’s still going! he’s gonna fight til the end! that’s pretty cool of a guy running against an incumbent who viscerally hates people who look like him.

i have multiple favorites in this race, but again, i wished he would run nine years ago and never really expected he would. so he has a special place in my heart.

bill de blasio

meh? he’s fine? new yorkers have strong, experienced opinions about him i think, but i’m not from new york so i just don’t know him that well. he was okay in the debates, one of those guys trying to interrupt a lot from the edges of the stage, which is not an endearing trait but also not an automatic strike against him, since when he did speak i liked his positions fine. i’m just not sure why he’s the guy, he hasn’t convinced me that he’s somehow better than the others in this race just because he’s worked hard in new york. unless something changes, i don’t see him breaking out into the front anytime soon.

john delaney

OH. MY. GOD. i went into the debates with an open mind, because he was the only candidate on that night that i’d never heard of.

he did not impress me.

i just…i don’t really have words. he was so annoying!!! lol. that’s not a political take, but he just so was, i couldn’t get over it.

honestly i don’t even remember what i thought of his policy positions so i must not have been impressed by them. he’s at the very top of my ‘why are you even running’ list.

tulsi gabbard

i think the only thing i knew about tulsi gabbard before the debates was her military background, that she’s a woman, and something about her family being in a cult? i read an interesting story about that a month ago and promptly forgot she was the one it was about until recently.

she did really well in the debates, i thought. grading on a curve of ‘she just needed to stand out’–i still only know that she’s got a military background and that informs her big issues, and i would need to hear about more than just her war views in order to really support her, but she did exactly what she needed to at the debate–she answered the questions she was given, and got at least one memorable moment by taking out tim ryan at the knees.

and like, that’s not the best reason to love a candidate, but as someone who hasn’t served and therefore knows she knows way more than i ever could about it, i respect the way she was not going to give some dude an inch when he was wrong about basic facts.

watching her make her case to be president reminded me that we used to have presidents who were really there to be ‘commander in chief’ first and ceremonial leaders second, and i’m not sure that’s what i want from a president but i can see how she would be able to do that and it got my attention.

kirsten gillibrand

i keep misspelling her name as kristen and i feel bad about that. along with amy klobuchar, she’s here to make the case for moderate female leadership, and i would prefer that to moderate male leadership because those are two different things…but it’s not what really appeals to me.

she’s done okay so far, i just think that she’s running in the wrong race? because if she weren’t also up against elizabeth warren and kamala harris and there was more room for her to be an appealing female alternative, she’d have a bigger impact.

if she stays in the race, she may be able to carve out more of a space. we’ll see.

mike gravel

i….don’t know who this is. his name is vaguely familiar? but so vaguely that i genuinely have no idea why. he’s probably still trying to make it into the next debate. hmm.

kamala harris

kamala came for joe’s head in the first debates and she had a good time. i’m still impressed by that and it was weeks ago now.

okay, so i didn’t know who kamala harris was a couple of years ago, i’m pretty late to this party. she landed on my radar after trump was elected, with her work on different committees. then i knew she was somebody people were talking about, and i knew she was from california and we live there now so i paid a little more attention.

she’s been kind of overlooked so far in the giant field of candidates, for reasons ranging from racism and sexism to her prosecutor history and making her case primarily on issues but avoiding getting personal. i heard her speak maybe twice, and both times was like ‘whoa, okay, she knows things and takes no shit’–but i was still genuinely stunned by her debate performance.

she arrived knowing that she wasn’t doing as well in polls and fundraising as she wanted, she came prepared, her attacks and her standout moments were PERFECTLY executed, and the fact that they were obviously rehearsed didn’t lessen the power of them at all.

i have no trouble imagining her up against trump in the general, and i would fucking love to see it. she is a prosecutor AND a mom AND a woman of color and i’ve never in my life seen someone so done with sleazy white male crap. the fact that she’s good at the political performative stuff (that to me, shouldn’t matter, but of course does) means she really might have a chance.

i don’t agree with all her positions, but she’s absolutely a fave and her rise in the polls is well deserved.

john hickenlooper

he is in this race to tell all the other democrats to stop being so liberal and make conservatives respect them again.

i’m not a fan.

every time he insists that it’s the democrats’ fault that their opponents are calling them socialists, as though republican and/or trump insults have anything to do with factual reality, i just need him to shut up.

i need him to shut up so hard.

JOHN. PLEASE LISTEN TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TOLD YOU THAT DEMOCRATS WILL BE TAGGED WITH THAT LABEL NO MATTER WHAT POLICIES THEY DO OR DON’T SUPPORT, BECAUSE IT IS AN INSULT THAT GETS ATTENTION. YOU ARE PLAYING THEIR GAME. STOP.

i probably don’t disagree with everything john hickenlooper stands for, but i wouldn’t know because he won’t stop calling democrats socialists so i cannot take him seriously.

jay inslee

has a good message, ran my home state and made a lot happen on his watch. i have a ton of respect for that and he’s good at explaining why we should care about what he cares about, which is one of the political skills that matters the most to me.

he’s not standing out that well just being The Climate Guy, but i could see him winning the nomination in a broad appeal sort of way, and i’d be fine with it. not as excited as i would be for other candidates, but i think he’d do a competent job, he has executive experience, and maybe he’d save the planet, who knows.

amy klobuchar

she’s here to represent the common sense midwest, and i don’t remember a single thing she said in the debates. i like her fine, i always have, i’m just not moderate and i’m not sure i buy into the idea that democrats can win back trump voters. so idk if she’s likely to make it out of the primary.

she seems smart and capable, again, i think anybody would be an improvement in 2020…but she hasn’t really stood out for me. idk if she can.

wayne messam

this one’s NAME isn’t even familiar to me. i didn’t know he was running, because i don’t know who he is. i’m guessing he’s the reason this list has 25 people on it when i thought we had 24 contenders, but who the heck is he???

seth moulton

he wasn’t in the debates and i was grateful. he’s the only candidate i actively dislike. i wasn’t paying much attention tbh when he was part of the campaign to take out nancy pelosi, cuz all i cared about was that it didn’t work.

but i was paying close attention when rachel maddow gave him an opening to explain that challenge and speak to female voters who might not have appreciated it. and he was so SMIRKY and DISMISSIVE and gave off the biggest entitled white dude vibe i’ve seen in this entire primary so far.

i don’t expect male candidates to appeal to me the same way female candidates do, but i do want at least some attempt on their part? running for president because you just expect that people will see that you’re great and deserve it makes me feel really grossed out. and that brings us to…

beto o’rourke

i really really wish he was in ted cruz’s senate seat right now. not just so ted cruz wouldn’t be in it, but also so beto wouldn’t be running for president at this particular moment in time.

i like him. i genuinely do. he would be a GOOD senator. and he ran an interesting campaign, in texas, and did it well.

but it’s way too soon for this presidential run, and his senate campaign strategy isn’t translating super effectively to a presidential race, and as much as i personally enjoy his wandering-through-life livestreaming-his-thoughts aesthetic, he’s not even ready to make a concise case for why he would make a better president than the other 200 people running.

in a decade, maybe he’d be better prepared and be a stronger candidate, but he’s running too much on name recognition and not doing his homework enough (this is also my main problem with joe biden tbh).

if beto doesn’t show us something more, i don’t see him making it in the long run, not when he has julián castro coming for his texas votes and multiple women who have no fucks left to give ready to outplan him.

tim ryan

i don’t think i’d heard of tim ryan before the debates. he did better at arguing his positions than some of the ‘forgettable white guys’ he’s with on the margin of this contest…until tulsi gabbard got her chance at him.

challenged by a veteran on his terrorism argument, he did not hold up well. i suspect he’s not long for this world, campaign-wise. honestly it’s a fluke of him answering the specific question he did and sharing the stage with the people he did, so that’s his bad luck.

but it was also an unforced error and this primary absolutely should weed out the guys who really have no reason to be here in the first place. no great loss, that.

bernie sanders

oh, god, bernie.

he’s not actually a democrat? so i give him credit where credit is due for managing to pull the party left with his popular arguments and yelling indoor voice.

i’ll keep it short and just say that he’s not my favorite for a lot of reasons, some of which involve relitigating the past, thus why i don’t feel like getting into it because that’s not productive or helpful. also i know that the obnoxiousness of his supporters is not entirely within his control.

the most important thing to me about bernie is that he knows his stuff, he really does. he has his positions and he’s willing to fight for them and he would be able to lead the country, i don’t doubt that. so if he manages to win the nomination i’ll support him.

i’m so tired, though. just so tired and ready to move on.

joe sestak

who is this. interesting name, but seriously, who is this? i don’t know you.

eric swalwell

eric, god love him, is also on my ‘why are you running’ list. he’s the epitome of a long shot, a random guy with some political experience who under normal conditions would have to wait decades more before he’d be considered a serious candidate.

but, yknow, here we are.

and i actually like him, as a congressman. he’s great. i was just surprised when he jumped into the race, it felt like a really funny joke because it was so random. dude, what are you doing?

then he made it to the debates, and it became very clear why he’s here.

he has no chance, and he KNOWS he has no chance, and he’s here to shout ‘let younger people take over’ as many times as he’s allowed to before he goes back to congress and returns to sparring with the gun lobby.

seriously, i’m a fan of eric swalwell!! i like him. i want him to keep fighting the good fight in congress for a long time.

but until they throw him out of this primary, he’s gonna keep grabbing the mic to tell joe biden he’s old, and i kind of respect his moxie. i will probably continue to do so until he messes with the candidates i like more. then i’ll want him to go away.

elizabeth warren

oh i love her. i have always loved her. i’ve loved her since she was still just a law professor talking about the economy and fighting for the CFPB, so i’ve believed she would make an excellent president even longer than i’ve felt that way about secretary castro.

i was so happy when she ran for the senate. i was sad i’m not in her state.

honestly, i didn’t expect her to run for president this year and i didn’t actually need her to, i liked watching her be a badass in the senate. but she has my support, and she’s doing even better than i expected at this point.

she had a great debate night, she’s showing off her ability not just to bring big ideas, but also explain them in ways that grow her support. she’s too smart to play along with anyone else’s rules, she brings the fight to where she wants it.

she can’t avoid the hillary comparisons, yay sexism, but i wouldn’t bet against her given what i’ve seen so far. she’s kind of what i think joe biden THINKS he is. i’d be thrilled if she were our next president who could make room for younger leaders after that.

marianne williamson

THE MEME-IEST CANDIDATE.

i mean, i love her because she’s freaking insane, but that’s so not relevant to anything.

i in no way want her to be president because i have no fucking idea what she would do if she were and that’s already what we have in the white house right now. but she seems very sure of herself.

i don’t know…what can you even say about marianne williamson?

she hates plans. we need to stop it with all the plans. we need to fight him with love. but not like cory booker wants to because that guy has plans, and her accent is cooler.

i knew nothing about her before the debate and i will never be able to forget her now.

so maybe she won?

andrew yang

i also knew nothing about him before the debates, and i thought he did well actually.

if the point of the debates for unknown candidates is to make a case for what sets them apart and make sure you leave knowing something that’s important to them, honestly he did that better than even my faves.

he got very little talking time, and he used all of it to sell his universal basic income plan, and staying on message that well is so impressive.

i’m not a big fan of his tech-focused independent voter thing, but i absolutely know what he wants to do as president and he didn’t spend the debate yelling out of turn, so at least i can also say i respect him.

if he sticks around, i’ll keep listening.

TL;DR vote for the nominee in the general pls vote for the nominee this is all very fun to talk about but i’m begging you please just make it stop in 2020

#politics #god so much politics #why was this so fun for me? idk but it was SO fun #should i tag with all the candidates? maybe but i don't have the patience there's too many of them #just gonna tag my faves and if anyone reblogs it they can do what they want #kamala harris #elizabeth warren #julian castro #michael bennet #pete buttigieg #tulsi gabbard #eric swalwell #when-did-this-become-difficult #replies #long post #democratic primary debates

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3l1n0r · 5 years

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My Predictions for the 2020 Election

I predict that Joe Biden will win the nomination over Bernie Sanders, the only remaining candidate at this time. He will win the popular vote but lose the electoral college, and Trump will be re-elected. Here’s why:

I believe that if Bernie Sanders had gotten the nomination he would have won. But we’ll likely never know for sure. The Democratic establishment decided, and its voters along with it, that the best we could do against Trump was Joe Biden, arguably one of the weakest candidates in the race.

Joe Biden is a far weaker candidate than Hillary Clinton before him, in a number of ways. He constantly makes mistakes and gaffes, has a history of touching women in ways that made them feel uncomfortable, has a less impressive resume with fewer accomplishments, had less support from the Democratic establishment (until the 11th hour face-turn between South Carolina and Super Tuesday), and clearly has dementia. While we will probably never get an official diagnosis of this, that won’t stop the Republicans from weaponizing it against him until at least a third of this country believes it to be fact. The situation with Hunter Biden in Ukraine will be Joe Biden’s “email scandal”; a situation in which he technically did nothing wrong (except some run-of-the-mill nepotism) but will be used to taint him with the stench of corruption.

Joe Biden is perfectly poised to lose this election; we will get Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss all over again. All he really has going for him is his connection with Obama (which won’t win over the swing state voters who went for Trump), his resume (checkered with terrible decisions that will depress turnout overall) and his long-standing ties with the black community.

It is not clear to me why so many black voters support Biden, given his terrible record on civil rights and his lies about protesting with Nelson Mandela. I believe it boils down to three things:

He was Obama’s VP, and did a good job of it

They know him

They don’t want to take any risks with an outsider leftist candidate

All of these are valid reasons. However, when pundits discuss Biden’s black support, or Sanders’ Latino support, they always ignore the most obvious factor: youth. Young voters of all races go for Sanders, olders voters of all races go for Biden. While Biden may have the support of the older black people, it is not enough to rebuild the Obama coalition that sent him to the White House. Youth was a key factor in Obama’s success, but the media’s continued dismissive attitude towards young people means that their voices are not taken seriously. (Part of this is on them, as most can’t be bothered to vote.)

I think that despite all of Biden’s obvious shortcomings, Democrats will turn out for him in a desperate attempt to unseat Donald Trump that won’t succeed. They will show up, yes, but months of the Fox News propaganda machine smearing Biden will depress turnout among young people, Bernie Sanders supporters of all ages, and possibly conservative-leaning independents as well. If Fox News can send the message to independents that Biden is just as bad, or worse, that Trump in just a few key swing states, the race will go to Trump once again.

Trump has the advantages of a mass-media propaganda machine behind him, and the incumbency. It is very likely with the coronavirus outbreak the economy will be in a recession, but Trump will pretend that such a recession is not happening and many of his supporters will believe him. He could tell them that the sky is orange and they would believe him, because he has dozens of pundits on channels broadcasting across the country arguing for why he is right and shooting down anyone who dares say otherwise. That being said, it is commonly believed that the economy is what decides presidential elections.

If economy good=re-election. If economy bad=lose re-election.

Of course, it can’t possibly be that simple. Even if the economy is doing well in the macroeconomic view, if small business and average workers are struggling (and they have been struggling for the past decade), they might be more willing to take a risk on an outsider like Trump and Sanders. This is why the economy is such a wild card. If the economy is doing well on the surface but struggling internally, it will completely pass most pundits by, and we get shock results like 2016.

We are very likely to fall into a recession because of the coronavirus outbreak. So far, Trump has handled the crisis abysmally, and significant blame for the US’s delayed response, including a lack of test kits and any sort of top-down coordination, lies at his feet. This won’t deter his base, who will be getting pumped full of messaging about how Trump has handled the crisis so well. What will be harder to turn a blind eye to is the announcement of a recession, and that recession could deter some of the people who were on the fence about Trump to swing to Biden. That alone might be enough to hand him the popular vote, but not the electoral.

The frustrating part of doing any kind of political analysis is that at the end of the day it all comes down to location. I don’t just have to predict whether voters will turn out, I have to try to predict where in the country they live and if it’s a swing state, and how likely it will go for one candidate or another. This is just my best shot at trying to predict what will happen.

If my prediction is correct and Joe Biden does win the popular vote and lose the presidency, the Democratic and Republican parties are going to need to have a serious talk about whether or not they actually think the Electoral College is fair. I don’t think anything fruitful or productive will come of those talks, but it is a conversation worth having. If my prediction is correct, it will be the third time in the past six elections that the Democrats had the presidency stolen from them.

Picking Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee will have disastrous consequences for the party. Biden would be at bare minimum a better president than Trump, but he would not be a good one, and he will not fix the problems that drove millions to vote for Trump in the first place.

I haven’t even gotten to Bernie Sanders’s supporters yet in my analysis. It is impossible to tell at this stage how many will show up at the polls for Joe Biden. Given the fact that Bernie Sanders could barely get them to go to the polls for him, I doubt Joe Biden will get much of anything in terms of youth turnout, despite his belated attempt to pivot to them now ahead of the general election. A loud minority of Bernie Sanders voters are #NeverBiden, but there is a silent majority of them who will simply show up at the polls for Trump or Biden and don’t feel the need to put the DNC on blast on Twitter to make their point. Bernie’s two greatest weaknesses, in 2016 and 2020, was his vocal minority of crazy supporters and his inability to make friends and alliances. His outsider status drew millions to campaign for him, but it turned the establishment and their followers against him, and ultimately they outnumbered him.

Historians looking back on this race will probably point to Elizabeth Warren’s claim that Bernie said a woman couldn’t be president in 2020 back in a private conversation in 2018 as the turning point that ultimately incinerated the progressive movement. Prior to that point, Bernie was holding strong in second place, and Elizabeth Warren had dipped to a low 3rd, after her October high point in the polls. In a desperate attempt to gain back her supporters who abandoned her for the perceived “more electable” progressive in the race, she launched a baseless attack against him that he denied. Most egregious of all was CNN’s clear bias towards Warren, as they responded to Sanders’ insistence he did not say what he said by turning to Warren and saying, “So how did you feel when Senator Sanders said that to you?” The clip was widely mocked on social media, but Warren’s embarrassing attempt to play the gender card with her whole “the women on the stage have won more elections than the men on the stage” spiel apparently played well with the faux-woke mainstream media.

For the record, Bernie Sanders has never stated publicly, ever, that a woman couldn’t be president. A video recently resurfaced from Time of him telling a young girl, in the 1970s, that of course a woman could be president someday. All Elizabeth Warren has as her proof is the word of a few spokespeople for her campaign, in a private meeting in 2018. Instead of confronting Bernie Sanders about it in private at the time, she waited until she was falling in the polls to launch an attack on him. It completely backfired on Warren; all she did was cement Bernie Sanders as the frontrunner of the progressive wing of the party.

She should have learned from Kamala Harris before her; playing the race and gender card might play well with the pundits, but it does not win over ordinary voters. Once you’ve reduced yourself to saying “vote for me because of my race/gender/other factor completely out of my control” you’ve lost with everyone who’s not plugged into Twitter. You have to give people a reason to vote for you, and not rely on identity politics. People don’t vote for Biden because of his identity, they vote for him because they believe he is best poised to defeat Donald Trump. People don’t vote for Sanders for his identity, they vote for him because they like his ideas and think he has a shot of getting them done if elected. But because of her attack against Bernie, her refusal to shake his hand after, her accusation that he called her a liar on national TV (he did not), her refusal to drop out of the race until Biden had already consolidated his lead, and her refusal to endorse Sanders when she finally did drop out, all speak volumes to the kind of progressive she really is. If Sanders had dropped out, he would have endorsed her, no question. But she decided she’d rather implicitly back Joe Biden, whom she publicly clashed with at the beginning of her career over fundamental policy differences, than Bernie, at a time when he needed her support more than ever. She owes a huge debt to progressives all over the country, including myself, who thought she’d actually fight for real progressive change. But it was all about getting elected, and when that failed, it was all about making sure she got a spot in Joe Biden’s cabinet. Not altogether surprising, considering she didn’t endorse Bernie in 2016, but very disappointing.

So with Elizabeth Warren out of the race, you would expect progressives to coalesce around Bernie, but this did not happen, for the reasons listed above. Some Warren supporters went to Biden because a few of Sanders’ vocal supporters sent them snake emojis and that hurt their feelings. (Snake emojis were used by Sanders supporters to call Warren a snake after she called Sanders a sexist.) Others did not go to Bernie because they believed him/his supporters to be sexist due to the media narrative coming out of that debate. Others truly believed Sanders had no chance of winning because he was too far left. But had Elizabeth Warren endorsed Bernie, not only was she likely to have gotten a vice presidency offer, she would have given Sanders a boost at a critical time when the progressive wing needed to coalesce behind one candidate. But the progressive wing was deeply divided over gender politics in a way the moderate lane was not. In the end it was Biden who coalesced support and won big in the Super Tuesday states, not Bernie.

But this does not mean Biden is a good candidate to take on Trump. He is generally perceived favorably now, but that will change after the Republicans hone their attacks against him. Trump will run circles around him in the debates and it will become even more obvious he is in cognitive decline. The public discourse will be spent poring over every detail of Biden’s long tenure in public service, and not over ways to improve this country’s future. And on top of all that, Biden will not win. Hillary Clinton had a far better shot of winning against Trump in 2016. She had every factor working in her favor. She still lost, though narrowly. Biden does not have those same factors working in his favor now. He will lose, and the media will be shocked that they could have gotten it so wrong, and the people of the world will shrug and say, “I told you he’d get re-elected,” and we’ll be subjected to four more years of whatever it is Trump is doing that cannot possibly be considered a “presidency”.

I’m obviously disappointed, and I know a lot of other people are too. But I could (obviously) be wrong. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

#Bernie sanders #joe biden #Donald trump #Elizabeth warren #political analysis #my analysis #American politics #us politics #2020 elections #2020 presidency #trump reelection #if you disagree with me that's fine but please be respectful

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cksmart-world · 4 years

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The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

December 22, 2020

WAR ON CHRISTMAS — AGAIN

Well, it's that time of year again. Jingle bells, decking the halls, getting drunk on eggnog and trimming the CHRISTMAS TREE. That's right, you left-wing pagans, it's not the Holiday Tree, is it? And we haven't been holiday shopping, have we? No siree Bob. It's the goddamn Christmas Tree, you heathen bastards. You can be a muslim or a jew or an atheist, or a hindu or a buddhist, but it's Christmas and it's a Christmas tree — not a Buddha Tree and not a Shiva tree. Like Rush Limbaugh said, we not going to stand by and watch this War on Christmas without assailing minorities. Santa is white. Jesus is white and it's a White Christmas. People don't dream of a hedonist Christmas or a muslim Christmas — no, it's a White Christmas for white people. Now, if you happen to be a minority or one of these other types who don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, you can go ahead and Christmas shop anyway, on account of we are big-minded. But don't go around saying, Happy Holidays, and don't make our kids say Happy Holidays in school because we won't stand for it. You want war, you'll get war. It'll be the Christian Crusades all over again because we believe in our Lord Jesus and his teachings, so shut the F--- up on that bullshit or else.

HOW TO GET TRUMP TO LEAVE THE WHITE HOUSE

1 – Tell him Nancy Pelosi is coming for a sleep-over.

2 – Say the TV is stuck on CNN and Jake Tapper keeps saying he's insecure.

3 – Tell him Michael Cohen has bugged his bathroom cabinet near the spray-on-tan.

4 – Tell him Antifa is now delivering for McDonald's.

5 – Say Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has been hired as Melania's hair stylist.

6 – Tell him Vlady Putin doesn't want to see his sorry loser ass ever again.

7 – Tell him residents of Palm Beach want him to stay in the White House.

8 – Say Laura Ingraham won't blow smoke up his pants anymore.

9 – Tell him someone left a bloody horse's head in his bed.

10 – And tell him the Supreme Court says to “fuck off.”

DOCTOR WHO? THAT SKANK

OK, who does that Jill Biden think she is calling herself “Doctor” when she ain't no doctor. It's these damn liberal elites who think they're better than real Americans who have to work for a living but don't want no universal healthcare on account of that's socialism. It's people like that skank Jill Biden who call themselves “Doctor” so they can go around with their noses in the air and make people like us feel stupid. Well, we'll just see about that. Remember Hillary “Benghazi” Clinton. That's right, nine Congressional investigations into Hillary and how she killed everybody at Benghazi. By the time we were done, people who watch FAKE news thought she was guilty as stink. And then we hit the E-MAILS. So go right ahead Miss Cutesy Dutesy, call yourself Doctor or Mary or Mother Theresa. It don't make no difference. Just because good ol' Joe has Teflon, like Bill Clinton, doesn't mean we can't getcha. Before you know it, Doctor Jill will be an abortionist and Hunter Biden will be the kingpin of the Biden Crime Family. You think you're better than us? Well, you've got another thing comin'. See, we like people like Sarah Palin who don’t pretend she reads. What's the difference between a soccer mom and a pig? The pig wears lipstick. Better watch it, Dr. Who.

Post script — Remember that thing TV news people do every Christmas eve? They say, NORAD radar has just sighted something coming from the North Pole and it could be Santa Clause, his sleigh and reindeer on their way to bring presents to good boys and girls everywhere. It's called the “Santa Tracker” (we are not making this up) and they've been doing it now for 60 years. It's just one more piece of our lovely Christmas tradition, except if you're a poor kid watching TV on Dec. 24. Sad to say, but there a lot of kids in poor families here in the good ol' USA. Somewhere between 13 to 15 million kids belong to families that are “food insecure,” meaning they don't know where their next meal is coming from, let alone if Santa is coming down the chimney. Somehow, spending money on gifts has become the celebration of Jesus of Nazareth, who blessed the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted. This is the celebration of Jesus of Nazareth who cursed those with wealth, comfort, and power. And not least, the Jesus who said love your enemies and do unto others as you would do to yourself. Oops, looks like we've done it again — we've confused X-mas with Christmas. So, while we're at it, we might as well tell you that it was Paul who spread Christianity and not Jesus or one of his original apostles. Paul didn't even know Jesus. We better stop there before someone smites us down in the name of … well, you know.

Well Wilson, the band seems to be in the Christmas spirit and we're assuming it has nothing to do with eggnog or magic holiday gummy bears, so put us in the proper holiday spirit and take us out with a little something for the special day:

Jesus was a sailor When he walked upon the water And he spent a long time watching From his lonely wooden tower And when he knew for certain Only drowning men could see him He said "All men will be sailors then Until the sea shall free them" But he himself was broken Long before the sky would open Forsaken, almost human He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone And you want to travel with him And you want to travel blind And you think maybe you'll trust him For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

(Suzanne — Leonard Cohen)

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perfectirishgifts · 4 years

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“We Are Uncomfortable Being Uncomfortable”: Grieving During Covid-19

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/we-are-uncomfortable-being-uncomfortable-grieving-during-covid-19/

“We Are Uncomfortable Being Uncomfortable”: Grieving During Covid-19

Grief, often labeled as a “bad feeling” that we try to hide, is really just another part of the … [] human experience.

One of the things you might have noticed about our coping with the pandemic has been the Instagram-ification of it all. Sugar coated images that say: “Let’s bake bread and find ways to make the pandemic cute” or “Look, I am on my Peloton, I am doing self-care so well” fill our social media feeds, as if Covid-19 did not just surpass heart disease as the number one killer of people in the United States. They do this, perhaps, because it is easier to do something and try to cope, then to worry or to grieve. In fact, if we stop and admit what this experience actually is for all of us, it might be too hard to say out loud or really, to feel.

Nora McInerny, author of It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too), creator of the Hot Young Widows Club, and host of the award-winning podcast “Terrible, Thanks for Asking,” explains, “Right away, everyone wanted [the pandemic] to be something that it wasn’t. My social media feed was like, ‘this is how we’re making it fun and cute for us’ and like, I’m sorry, do you think our grandparents were like, ‘this is how I’m making this depression, cute?’ No. They were like ‘we are in a depression we have not eaten, you know, for several days.’” She explains that she once complimented a photo of her grandmother and while her grandmother thanked her for what she said, she also acknowledged that she was skinny in the photo because they did not have food at the time. Nora adds, “Our grandparents weren’t trying to life hack their way through a depression like, ‘here’s how I make content’.”

But, as Americans during Covid-19, especially for those with privilege, there is a desire to experience only those emotions deemed acceptable and good. As Nora puts it, “It is very rare that someone’s like ‘I don’t like that lady, she’s too happy’…No, No, No. People are like ‘I don’t like that woman she’s sad, she’s angry, it’s like get over it.’ ” Nora feels we, as a culture, have few acceptable emotions and grief isn’t one of them. We even like to pretend, as she points out highlighting our best selling book selections, that we can choose our attitudes and just “be happy.” She says, “It’s like, what if it were that easy?” We even try to look on the bright side of the more painful things in life like cancer diagnoses (Nora points to a book called Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich for more on this topic). News Flash: It doesn’t work.

Instead, Nora wonders what it would be like if we actually admitted the truth and said out loud that right now, during this pandemic, this is scary and no one knows what they are doing. We may all hate being uncomfortable, and feel like we should be using this time for some kind of self-growth, optimization, and even improvement, but, our actual goal, she says, is just to survive, and remain stable. She adds, however, that she does not want to negate people’s coping mechanisms, or judge them. She simply wants to highlight that while coping like this makes sense and she knows why people do it, it is often just a “a perpetual gaslight extravaganza.” She offers to remind people, “this does suck,” as often as they need it.

And, she is right, it does suck. Studies estimate that for every Covid-19 death, a person leaves behind 9 family members bereaved. This means about 2 million people in this country will be grieving in 2020 and this number will only grow. Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, an internal medicine physician and the founder of End Well which is hosting a free, virtual event called Take 10 on December 10th featuring celebrities and everyday heroes on this very topic explains, “The pandemic has created a collective grief experience that we have not yet addressed as a nation (or as a world). I’m not sure we even have the right words to describe what it is that we’re going through. In order for us to move through this experience and find a place of healing, we need to address this, normalize the sadness and the pain that so many are feeling and create ways to support each other.”

One way, of course, is to name it and say out loud what we are feeling and not sugar coat it at all. Another is to understand what grief is and when we are experiencing it, and then, normalize it and learn how to help someone through it. For additional information and for a community on these topics, you can also register for free for Take 10 and hear Nora, as well as Andy Cohen, Taraji P Henson, Blair Underwood, Maria Shriver, Soledad O’Brien, Justin Baldoni, Biden Covid-19 Advisory Board member, Dr. Atul Gawande and many others speak virtually on December 10th.

Grief Is Not Just Death

Nora McInerny is a reluctant grief expert who co-founded the Hot Young Widows Club, an online … [] support group for an endlessly growing group of people around the world who have lost, what she calls, their person.

Nora, who in 2014 lost her second baby to miscarriage, her father to cancer, and her husband, Aaron, to a brain tumor within six weeks, says that when she first felt grief herself, she assumed it was something else. She says, “You will assume that you are just ungrateful, you will assume that you are somehow defective, that you’re not grateful enough for what you do have, if you are somehow experiencing the loss of what you no longer have.” But, in a way, she notes, grief is really not something that you understand until it happens to you. Even then it makes people, including those you admire, become “a bunch of amateurs.” With grief, she explains, “We will all be absolutely new to it, every time we experience it.”

This is especially true as you can grieve much more than death. Nora notes that she always believed that grief could only occur with death and didn’t extend much outside of the funeral, when she thought the emotion ceased to exist. When someone told her that she was grieving her husband’s brain cancer, she became angry. She felt like calling those experiences and feelings “grief,” somehow cancelled out all of the positive emotions she was still having with him while he was alive. She says, “It felt like grief was a huge blotter that just sort of, I don’t know, stamped out every other feeling, instead of something that coexists with every other part of your life. I was absolutely grieving when Aaron was diagnosed, was grieving for our entire marriage as I watched him, you know, suffer, and I watched him slip away, as I watched our friends and our family live the lives that we assumed that we would also get to live. That is also grief.”

In the pandemic, loss of in-person school or graduation or other milestones like bat mitzvahs or weddings, can also be grief. Nora explains that with her four children (4, 7, 14, 19), they are all grieving different things, like the fact that they left school and didn’t return without warning. But, even if we want to draw comparisons between our situations or play “who has it worse,” there is no “worse” or “more important” grief. For example, you can grieve not returning to school and that doesn’t mean you are saying it is worse than her husband dying. Nora feels no good conversations include the words just, only, but, or should, and that you can feel anything about your own situation, without immediately comparing it to someone else’s.

She adds, “It is like the Grinchiness of American emotionlessness to say, well there’s just only so much sadness to go around and it got all sucked up, so there’s no sadness left for, you know, my seven year old who moved to a new city and doesn’t get to go to school and make friends. Yeah, there is. And if you imagine everybody is a seven year old, you wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t do it to yourself [and] you wouldn’t do it to other people.”

Grief Has No Right Way Or No Timeline

There is also not a right or wrong way to grieve and everyone experiences it differently. Nora highlights that this is true even if everyone is living through the same thing, like a global pandemic. When her husband died, she was grieving the way she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him in it, while his mom was grieving the loss of her only son, his sister, her only brother, and their son, his only biological father. She also didn’t realize she was lucky to have had a funeral or time at the bedside until Covid-19 made restrictions to the mourning process and she has heard what that has been like for people. She says, “I wanted to isolate and I did a pretty good job of it, but I did not appreciate how optional it was for me and for some people (whom she has met in her Covid-19 specific group in the Hot Young Widows Club) it is not optional and that is just absolutely wrenching.”

Grief also has no timeline. Just because you want to stop feeling sad or want your friend or family member to “move on” doesn’t mean they can or should. Dr. Ungerleider explains, “If we can get away from the idea that grief is a linear, step-wise process —we may better understand the fact we can’t speed it up and “get over” it quickly. Grief is often something that lives with us forever and ebbs and flows throughout life.” Nora tells a story of how someone in her Club wrote in a post, “When my son died, people said call at any time, I’m here for you, that was 7 months ago. I called 10 people tonight and it went to voicemail.” Nora points out that if people are fatigued of hearing about someone’s son dying after 7 months, that is heartbreaking as that is really no time at all.

In fact, she still grieves Aaron even though she is happily remarried and it was just his 6-year death anniversary. Still, she had to even remind her own family to reach out on the day of. She previously would have felt like they just didn��t care or she was messed up for not being “over it” by now, but, she now thinks differently. She also knows that people aren’t often malicious and they just assume that their experience of grief must be someone else’s. For example, her family had left her alone because they thought it would make her sad to talk about Aaron as it makes them sad to talk about their Dad. But, grief and how you want to cope with it just isn’t the same for everyone.

So, How Do We Help Each Other Grieve?

It can be really hard to know what to say or how to say it when someone is suffering or grieving, especially a death. Dr. Ungerleider says that even though physical in person connection has been removed, we can “still show up for each other in other ways and listen and ‘be there’ for each other.” We may really want to fix everything, which Nora has seen too, but, Dr. Ungerleider points out that we need to get comfortable sitting with someone who is grieving and recognizing that we can’t solve their problem. Nora adds, “If you can say to your friend, ‘I don’t know what you need, but I’m going to be here. I’m going to mess up, [and] you can tell me to fuck off and it’s okay.” That is what can help someone through it. She adds, “empathy is just having a good imagination.”

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